My Callisto
by Nikki Bryn
Summary: See how daughter follows in mother's footsteps. Eve and Virgil go on a journey that takes them to Tartarus and back again.
1. Secrets

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters here that appear in the hit syndicated TV Show, Xena: Warrior Princess. I do, however, own any and all original characters. 

Summary: Eve has a secret, and it will cost her everything to keep it safe.

My Callisto 

By

Nikki Brin

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Chapter 1: Secrets, Secrets are no Fun… 

Xena flicked a carrot across the table at Gabrielle, who rolled her eyes and picked up a fork. "Will you stop that, please?" asked the bard as she shoved the eating utensil towards her companion. Some days the warrior could be as bad as a five-year-old child, at times even worse.

The warrior took the fork from the bard and stared at it thoughtfully for a second or two, unconsciously kicking her feet under the table. "Am I always going to be this paranoid?" she asked, a hint of desperation in her voice.

Gabrielle held in a chuckle. "Xena, you're worried about your child. There's nothing wrong with that." She grinned at the pout resting on her soul mate's face. Years of showing the warrior how to pout had really paid off. She was _SO cute!_

"If you say so..." replied Xena with a deep sigh. She hadn't planned on being worried like _this_ after leaving Africa. The mix-up with Korah in the desert had left them both in need of some more time alone, yet no matter what they did she still couldn't get her mind off her daughter unless Gabrielle was finding a way to keep her busy.

The bard grinned and kissed Xena on the cheek sympathetically. She worried about Eve too, but not half as much as her warrior friend. Sometimes it was downright embarrassing. Just the day before Xena had walked right up to a total stranger, thinking she was Eve and tapped her on the shoulder, saying 'There you are!'

"How about we send a scroll to her and Virgil, huh?"

"I guess," muttered Xena with a shrug. She popped a tomato into her mouth.

"You are too cute when you're sad," teased the bard, hugging the tall warrior.

"Har-har... what the?" Xena all but jumped from her seat and went over to the tavern door, peeking outside timidly.

Gabrielle shook her head. "What are you doing now, Tall Dark and Motherly?" She snickered at that title, which she had given the warrior not too long ago.

Xena clamped a hand over the bard's mouth, her personal way of saying 'SH!!'  "It's Eve and Virgil! Look!" cried the warrior anxiously.

The bard stood up on her tiptoes and followed Xena's gaze to across the road. Sure enough, there were Eve and Virgil, talking in the middle of the marketplace. More like Virgil was talking and Eve was listening with a sad puppy dog look plastered on her face. He was frowning, angrily poking his finger at her, while she was obviously pleading with him over something. And, considering their luck, that couldn't be good.

"What're they doing?" asked Gabrielle after biting Xena's hand to make her let go.

Xena idly rubbed her palm and shrugged. "How am _I_ supposed to know?"

"Well, let's go see," said the bard, prancing out into the street before Xena could stop her.

"Gabrielle! No!" Xena pushed open the door and began weaving through the crowd after her friend desperately.

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"I can't tell you, Virgil. _Please_, just let me be for a week or so."

"Eve, your mother left me in charge of you. She'll rip me _limb _from _limb_ with her bare hands if I let you go off without so much as a good explanation." He clenched and unclenched his jaw irritably. "All I need is a simple sentence about what you're gonna do."

Eve took a deep breath to contain the nervousness building in her stomach. "Look, I'll just send her a scroll telling her that I'm fine and you went home to check on your mother."

Virgil waved his arms around. "HELLO? _Your_ mother is the most powerful warrior in the _world_ right now! I'm more afraid of her than _the gods!_ Why, you ask? Because she killed all of them! There's no way I'm getting sent to Tartarus along with all of Mount Olympus because you wanted some time to shop alone!"

The woman sighed and took his arm. "Fine then… come with me… but if you mention this to anyone I'll make you wish that Mother had ripped you into pieces and not me."

He let out a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to get his arms ripped off by the warrior princess anytime soon (Eve would never do that to him, right? Right?!) and stumbled after Eve. "Hey, slow down!"

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"Where'd they go?" asked Gabrielle, exasperated.

Xena finally caught up with the bard and looked around. "Will you stop asking me!?"

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Eve led Virgil into a building, then down a set of stairs and into a dark hallway. She grabbed a torch from the wall and they continued down the passage until they came to a large oak door. Eve took a moment to run her fingers over the pattern engraved in it, an eagle with a branch of hemlock in its beak.

Virgil curiously watched Eve caress the sign on the door, and then grunted as she yanked him closer and began to pull open the heavy door. The tall man helped her and soon they had they had it wide open.

"Oh my gods." Virgil stepped into the room with his mouth hanging down to his feet.

A large underground room had been dug underneath the village tavern! The walls were white marble. Expensive purple and blue banners hung everywhere. The floor was covered in pelts and rugs, making it lusciously soft to the touch. Almost royal furniture was spread about the room, their presence giving the room a forebodingly rich look. In one corner there was a large bed covered in elusive quilts, accompanied by a large bureau and full-size mirror. A washbasin sat next to the mirror, wonderful smelling soaps giving the air a pleasant aroma. In the other corner was a little bed and a massive pile of toys. And on that bed was a little girl, fast asleep. She had long, wheat-colored hair that pooled around her head, probably reaching down to her waist when she stood. Her pale skin was smooth and unmarked and her long limbs were slender. Virgil assumed that her eyes, moving rapidly underneath their lids, were blue.

Virgil caught Eve looking at the girl lovingly and a light bulb blinked on in his head. He may have been the son of Joxer, but he wasn't _that _stupid. "Is that… is that yours?"

Eve licked her lips nervously. "Um… yes?"

Virgil sat down. Quickly.

The short woman rolled her eyes and poked him in the leg with her toe. "I'll explain later."

"No, you'll explain right now, Missy! When you wouldn't tell me what was going on I—" He looked up to find Eve across the room, approaching the small girl. "—am being totally ignored, aren't I?" He got up and quietly followed Eve towards the little bed.

Eve sat down on the side of the bed and stroked the girl's hair gently. "Callie, time to wake up, honey."

Two large, sleepy blue eyes opened. "Mommy?"

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"They couldn't have just jumped into the ether and flown away!" cried Xena, throwing her arms up into the air. "Or maybe one of the gods took 'em... yeah, yeah! It was them all the way!"

Gabrielle shook her head. "Xena, what did I tell you about having hard ale on an empty stomach? You're drunk."

"No I'm not," stated the warrior defiantly. "If I were drunk, I'd be on the floor barfing, now wouldn't I? Hmm? That's what _you_ always do at the Amazon parties."

Gabrielle continued to shake her head at the warrior. Unlike most people, when Xena got drunk her mind raced with ideas and she jabbered them all out loud. Her senses were sharper and her words weren't slurred. In short, the only was to tell if she was drunk was if she became a good conversationalist.

"I hafta get them. What if Virgil killed 'er? What if she killed him? What if they get together and get married and have kids and-"

Gabrielle slapped her friend across the face. "XENA! WAKE UP!"

The warrior blinked a few times. "Thanks… I needed that." She let her forehead drop to the table miserably. Some days things just didn't go her way. "Where's a god when you need one?"

"Well, Aphrodite is kind of mad about you killing Hephaestus and the other gods refuse to speak to us… so I think we're on our own," said the bard with a teasing smile.

Xena glared at her and sighed. "Okay, Miss Know-it-all, what do you suggest we do?"

"Leave your _full-grown daughter alone for one. Stop worrying for two. And get outta this town for three. We've been here too long."_

The warrior ran a hand through her hair. "Fine, but if anything has happened to either of them I'll—"

"We know, we know; you'll kill someone."

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Virgil sat in a chair on the other side of the room as he watched Eve and her daughter.

Her daughter...

_That's kind of weird to think about_, he thought to himself.

Studying the small girl, he came to a conclusion that she was about seven, give or take a year, maybe two. It was hard to tell exactly. Now that she was awake, Virgil's assumptions were proved correct: her eyes were the startling blue color that belonged only to the women of Xena's line. In fact, she was the mirror image of Eve except for her golden-blonde hair, which he guessed was a trait from her father.

_Wait a minute._ _Who IS the father?_ he thought suspiciously. "Eve?"

Eve turned and frowned. "Yes?"

"Could I talk to you for a minute?"

The woman nodded and turned to her daughter. "I'll be right back, sweetie. Then we'll talk about your surprise, okay?"

Callie nodded and turned her shy blue eyes away from Virgil as her mother stood and went over to the man. She had never gotten to actually take the time to see a man up close. Her caretaker always dragged her through the marketplace so fast that she never got a clear look. Not that she didn't enjoy staying down in The Room. All her toys and things were down here. Besides, her caretaker let her play outside the village almost every day! As she studied Virgil, she decided right then and there that she liked him._ Maybe he and Mother will take me with them!_ she thought hopefully.

Eve sat down next to Virgil in one of the expensive chairs and sighed. "What?" she asked impatiently, her blue eyes wanting so much to go play with her daughter more.

"Explain. Now."

The woman let out a deep breath and sat back in her chair. "You really want to know?"

Virgil crossed his arms and gave her a 'Don't-even-try-with-me' look.

"Okay, but where to start?" She ran her hands through her unruly hair. "Well, about seven or eight years ago I was on a campaign in Thrace…"

**SEVEN** **YEARS** **AGO**

Livia ran her finger on the dotted line from Thrace to Helicon. "If we march under the cover of the mountains it will put us behind three days, but Helicon won't have a chance to defend themselves against a surprise attack from the foothills. The other two legions will take the western route from Thebes and meet us there the day before the attack. The main parts of the army will attack from three sides while my destroyers and battleships attack from the water. We'll crush them like a bug." She squished a piece of parchment in her hand to demonstrate her point. "Dismissed."

Her second in command, Dephon, nodded and left the tent.

As she poured over the map once again, running multiple scenarios through her head, her lieutenant entered and put a hand on his chest respectfully. "Yes, Cesarius?" she said without looking up.

"Commander Verus of the Spartan army is here and requests to see you, Ma'am."

Livia ran her tongue along the inside of her mouth thoughtfully. "Send him in, but take all his weapons and place them outside the tent as a safety precaution."

He nodded and exited the tent briefly, coming back in with a handsome man in shining silver armor. His hair was a light golden color, with deep hazel eyes that showed a level of intelligence not often found in Spartan men. With arms as big as tree trunks, he looked like a liable contestant for the Olympic games in Athens. A light tan rested on his handsome face, complimenting both his hair color and eye color.

Not that Livia gave him so much as a second glance. "Ah, Verus. I wasn't expecting you until next week. But then again, I guess those Greeks are giving you a run for your money, aren't they?" she said in Latin. She sat and began to scratch out a note on a scroll.

"They killed off half my troops during the night. I sent the rest home and came to make a deal with you in person, since you refuse to speak with any of my messengers." There was a hint of an accent in his voice; a Spartan/Macedonian accent, if that was possible.

Livia's ears perked up. "What would this 'deal' be about?" she asked, turning her blue eyes to his face, then looking back at her war map.

"I need safe transportation to Egypt. The mass of my army is camped just outside there but the Greeks won't let me get to the shoreline. I have no ships and, by myself, it would be too dangerous to hire a shipman."

"What will I receive in return if I assist you? My army is about to conquer Helicon; we have no spare time to waste on the unworthy."

He sighed and set his helmet on the table. "After this Sparta will take time to rebuild their army. I have about one thousand weapons ready but no men with the skill to use them. I also have many, many personal blacksmiths that would be happy to make any weapons you would like, given a certain limit."

Livia considered this for a moment. "Consider it done. Daemon will show you to your tent, and after my army takes Helicon we'll have a clear sea route to Egypt. I hope you can be as patient as they say, Verus."

Verus nodded and bowed at the waist respectfully. "As you wish, Milady."

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The next morning Livia went out hunting just to kill _something_ and brush up on her bow technique, which wasn't too good when compared to her prowess with other weapons. The sun was just coming over the horizon to awaken the world. Squirrels began to come out of their burrows, young animals were out to play, and other animals as well as humans gave their welcome to the new day. She crept through the underbrush, carefully avoiding fallen leaves and branches. Her light footsteps only made a soft sound against the moist early-morning grass.

A doe bounded from the safety of the tall grass into the field, right in Livia's view.

The woman grinned and readied her bow and arrow. Just when she was about to shoot, the deer suddenly looked up and ran away. Livia turned to where the deer had saw danger and her mouth fell open. A bear was barreling down the field, roaring and slashing every which way. Its gleaming teeth were bared for all to see, the morning sun glinting off the saliva pouring from its mouth as the beast came right towards Livia. She dropped her quiver and bow and gulped. As the animal came closer she spotted something on its back.

"GET OUTTA THE WAY!" shouted Verus, holding onto the bear's thick fur in a death-grip. "Yeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaaaaw!"

Livia's eyes were as wide as saucers as the bear came closer, childhood memories flashing through her head. She closed her frightened blue eyes and cowered back, grunting as a body hit hers and knocked her to the ground, then roughly yanked her up into a tree.

"Livia, open your eyes. Are you alright? Did I hurt you?" asked a voice, which Livia soon recognized as Verus's.

Livia looked up into concerned hazel eyes. "Oh gods… oh my gods… Verus, you are absolutely, positively _insane_!"

"But I saved your life _despite_ being insane, didn't I?" pointed out the man with an amused grin.

The woman looked down at the bear below them, who was trying to climb the tree without much success. She shuddered.

Verus, noticing this, asked, "Do you have a fear of bears?"

Livia shook her head and suddenly noticed the position they were in. She was all but wrapped around him; her arms thrown around his neck, one leg hooked onto his, and their faces dangerously close together. With a disgusted look, she pushed herself away and sat on a higher branch. "When I was five my caretaker left me outside while she went to talk with one of my professors and I was attacked by a bear."

"How bad was it?"

Livia sighed and let her shawl drop, revealing an ivory shoulder. From the top of her collarbone down to the middle of her spine was a long, sallow scar; two shorter ones on either side. "I managed to get away before any more harm was done, but I still have that."

Verus nodded sympathetically. "Well, the famine is worse on the animals than it is on us and I plan to help this bear."

"What?"

The man pulled out Livia's quiver and bow. "I want you to shoot that deer over there."

Livia looked at him quizzically. "What?"

  
"Just shoot it."

She glanced at the deer, which was a good hundred feet away. A sharp breath left her mouth as she shook her head, put off. "I can't hit that!"

"Why not?"

"I'm not exactly Artemis, okay?"

Verus chuckled and moved onto the branch with her. He settled behind her and reached forward, not letting even innocent touches happen. "Just keep both eyes open and make sure all the things around you are right. Wind, underbrush, everything."

Livia nodded and pulled the bowstring taut, her eyes nervously darting from the bear to the deer. She closed her eyes and was about to let go, but Verus's smooth voice broke her thoughts.

"Both eyes open."

She opened her eyes and let the arrow fly, watching as it flew across the field...

And hit the deer.

Verus grinned and settled back into the branches comfortably. "You did it."

Livia's mouth hung open in shock. "How did you do that? I've never hit anything more than fifty feet away in my life!"

The man shrugged, then pointed down to the bear. It was slowly walking away, keeping one eye on the dead deer and the other on Verus and Livia. "See? It'll go for the easier prey and then she and her cubs will stay alive a little longer."

Fiery blue eyes looked him up and down curiously. "If you don't excuse my saying… you're different from most people, aren't you?"

Verus simply smiled and hopped down from the tree. "Come here."

Livia stared at his hand for a moment, then accepted it. "Where are we going?" she asked, brushing off her trousers as she regained her composure.

"I just wanna show you something."

They began walking and as they did Livia studied this man more closely. The way he held his head high and his chest out. No slouching; a gait with long strides and muscular movements. His hazel eyes looked straight forward defiantly, as if assuming nothing bad could happen. "Verus?" she said after a long silence.

"Yes?" He stopped walking and turned to her.

"Um… are you _sure you're from Sparta?" The men she had met from Sparta were always rough, burly guys that broke mirrors because they were so ugly; never handsome young men who had idealistic ways and insane habits._

Verus chuckled and replied, "Sometimes I wonder." He stopped walking and looked to the woman.

Livia looked back at him, then switched her gaze to the animal in front of her.

It was the bear.

"AAAH!" she screamed, leaping into Verus' waiting arms. "You're _REALLY insane, you know that? Get that beast away!"_

Verus set her back down on the ground. "Did you just figure out that I'm insane, or is this a recent development?" he asked, letting his Spartan accent slip out.

Livia felt her heart skip two beats at that accent, which made his Latin sound like a flirtatious drawl without him even meaning it that way.

Verus slowly turned her around to face the bear, who was regarding her silently. "Now, pet her."

"What?! That's a wild animal, not one of Augustus's dogs!"

"Just trust me. Pet her."

Livia glared at him for a moment, then turned to the bear. She reached out a shaky hand and touched the soft fur, wincing as she did. The bear all but purred and moved forward like a puppy dog wanting to be scratched behind the ears. "Oh gods."

"Isn't she soft?"

The woman nodded and began to relax. "You are one _different_ man, Verus."

PRESENT 

Eve stopped her story and turned away from Virgil, pawing at her eyes. "I—I'm sorry. I need some fresh air." She moved to go but Virgil grabbed her arm.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, eyeing the glimmer of tears in here eyes. She might rank as one of the more deadly people in his life, but he wasn't about to let that prevent him from being a gentleman.

"Uh… I just need some time, okay? I'll tell you the rest of the story later." She stood and went out into the dark hall without another word, leaving her daughter and Virgil alone.

TBC…


	2. Child of Mine

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters here that appear in the hit syndicated TV Show, Xena: Warrior Princess. I do, however, own any and all original characters. 

Summary: Eve has a secret, and it will cost her everything to keep it safe.

My Callisto

By

Nikki Brin

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Xena ran her fingers through her dark locks with a deep sigh. She then placed her hands at her temples and dragged them along the sides of her face until they met at her nose. "I can't handle this, really, I can't."

Gabrielle looked up from her bath and rolled her eyes. "I thought we agreed that you would stop trying to find Eve. She's a big girl and knows how to kick a guy where it hurts."

The warrior grunted in reply.

"Xena," sighed the bard, climbing out of the bath, "if we ask people around town will you _puh-lease_ stop doing this to me? You're gonna make yourself sick from all this worrying. You worry more than a farm mother!"

Xena eyed Gabrielle's body as the bard exited the bath and shrugged absent-mindedly. "Okay, but _only if we find someone who can tell us that she and Virgil are alright." She removed her hands from her face and stood to her full height._

Gabrielle shook her head, splashing water on her warrior friend, and replied, "Good. Now I'll just get dressed and we'll be on our way."

The warrior grinned mischievously and 'innocently' let her hand brush against Gabrielle's bare backside. "Whatever you say, my bard… but do you really have to get dressed?"

Gabrielle casually put a finger on Xena's chest and pushed her back into the bath, leathers and all. She could barely contain a chuckle as she left the room wrapped in a towel with an indignant warrior glaring after her.

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After Xena had pulled herself and her heavy leathers out of the bathtub and taken time to dry off, she slipped into a pair of her old trousers and tunic. The depressed warrior went over to the body-length mirror and sighed stressfully as she tried to smooth out the wrinkles in the hardly-worn garments.

Gabrielle came up behind Xena and wrapped her arms around her neck. "You look fine. If you hadn't said that then maybe your leathers wouldn't be hanging thirty feet off the ground outside a window. And if you weren't so worried I could've enjoyed my bath."

Xena chuckled. "Okay, you got me there, but seriously, I'm really worried that something's happened to them. People just don't disappear like that." _At least not when **I** am tracking them... she thought._

"Give me two things that could happen to the former Champion of Rome and a six foot three man traveling together."

"One: Virgil will kill her. Two: They'll have sex. There's nothing more to it." The warrior crossed her arms impatiently.

Gabrielle couldn't help it. She snorted a laugh and began to crack up. "That is just too funny, Xe! 'They'll have sex.' I can't believe you actually said that!"

Xena just scowled and stormed out of the room with a chuckling Gabrielle following right behind her.

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Virgil thoughtfully sipped his wine as he watched Callie play with her numerous (and expensive) toys. The young girl seemed to either be ignoring him or just plain wasn't interested in the fact that he was there.

Callie had different thoughts on the matter, however. She darted glances at the tall man out of childish curiosity when he wasn't looking. Her hopes were still high that her mother would take her with her this time. After they had sat there in complete silence for over half an hour, Callie couldn't contain her thoughts any longer.

"Are you gonna be my daddy now?" blurted the child, her bright blue eyes twinkling with innocent curiosity. "'Cause Mama's never brought anyone to visit before."

A spray of wine went across the room and Virgil began coughing. "Wh—what?" he asked, suddenly short of breath.

"My mommy's never brought someone else to visit. She once told me that someday, when she became empress in Rome, she would be able to take me with her so we could be together. She _promised_ me she would."

Virgil wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist and sighed in sympathy. Placing his hands on his knees, he leaned forward and asked, "Have you ever had a daddy before?"

"I think I did, but Mommy never wants to talk about him. Do you know what happened to him?" asked the girl hopefully.

"Well, your Mama was gonna tell me but she needed some time to herself." Where _was Eve for that matter?  And _why_ had she been crying?_

"Will you _please be my daddy? Or at least tell my mommy to take me with her? I don't like it when she leaves me all alone with Satri." Tears formed in the girl's eyes as she thought of being left alone again._

The man smiled and replied, "I can't tell your mom to do anything, but I'll try my best to convince her to take you with us, alright?" He liked this kid.

"Okay."

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"Nope, haven't seen 'em 'round here. But then again, there are so many couples like that in this 'ere village it would be hard to tell which one you're talkin' 'bout," said the tavern keeper with a sigh as he wiped down the bar for the umpteenth time.

Xena counted to ten forwards and backwards in her head. "Thanks anyway." She turned to Gabrielle, who was snickering in the doorway. "Not a word."

The bard held up her hands innocently, though the evil twinkle remained in her emerald eyes.

"I've asked every damn person in this town and no one has seen them," muttered Xena as she collapsed in a chair. Suddenly her eyes caught sight of the flash of gold. She noticed a woman dressed in expensive linens across the tavern. "Well, there's something you don't see everyday," thought the warrior out loud. She got up and straddled a chair across the table from the mysterious rich woman. "Tell me something, do you know of a couple with a man a little more than six feet tall and a shorter woman about oh, five foot five?"

"Yeah… about fifty of 'em," grunted the woman, not looking Xena in the eye.

"Do you know Livia?"

"What about her?"

_AHA!_ "I need to know where she is."

The richly dressed woman eyed Xena up and down, making sure to consider her lethal-looking weapons. "Why would that be?" she asked without much genuine interest.

"Did you by any chance hear of Livia finding the Way of Love?" asked the warrior, looking the other woman up and down with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Yes. I heard that."

"Well, she's my daughter and her name is Eve now. I need to know where she is so I can know if she and the man she's traveling with are alright."

"I promise you that they are fine, but if you insist…" The dark woman sighed and pushed her chair out from under the table. "My name's Satri. You must be Xena, the warrior princess. Come with me and I'll show you where your daughter is staying for a few nights."

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Eve came back into the room to find Virgil gleefully talking with her daughter. "I see you two have no problem getting along." She smiled at both of them.

"Virgil's really nice, Mommy! He even wrote me a poem! Listen:

'Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Sugar is sweet,

And you are, too!' Isn't that nice, Mommy?"

Eve chuckled and nodded as she sat in a chair next to her daughter. "Yes it is, honey. Could I talk with Virgil again in private, sweetie?" The tiny girl obediently skipped away to play with her toys again.

Virgil grinned as he watched Callie go. "She's a sweet kid."

Eve nodded and looked after her daughter lovingly, though there was a sad twinkle in her eye as she said, "Just like her father." She turned to Virgil and added, "Thank you for staying with me like this. I know I'm not exactly the most welcomed person in your life right now but-"

"_Livia is not welcome, but _Eve_… Eve I can live with," interrupted Virgil with a smile. "You were going to continue your story? It's worthy of a bard, I can tell you that."_

The woman grinned back. "You can write it down later if you want to. Anyway, after the bear had gone about its business and Verus and I were heading back towards camp…"

**SEVEN** **YEARS** **AGO**

Livia was totally silent as they made their way back to camp, quietly pondering to herself. Verus walked a polite distance away from her, looking around and smiling from one ear to the other for no apparent reason. They came to a grassy field and Verus chuckled to himself.

"What, may I ask, is so funny?" asked Livia impatiently as they began to trek across the flower-filled area.

He bent down, picked a flower, and put it in Livia's hair. "I just wanted to see how you looked without a helmet on your head."

"And that's funny?"

"No, what's funny is the fact that you're really trying to ignore the fact that your arm is broken, but the way you're carrying it is a dead give away. Next time try to keep it more loose instead of really stiff like that." He demonstrated with his own arm.

Livia's eyes flashed disbelief for a second, then turned blank again, as they had been for so many years. "How did you know that?" she asked, looking down at her ailing arm.

Verus shrugged and said, "When we get back to camp let me take a look at it. It's not like there's a reason to be ashamed of it."

Livia stopped and stared at the man's back in surprise as he continued the walk back to the campsite. He sure knew how to hit the nail on the head.

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"Dephon, leave us," commanded Livia, turning to Verus solemnly. The captain bowed respectfully and left the tent without a word, as he normally did.

"Alright, what's your deal, Verus?" asked Livia, putting her hands on her hips but making sure to be careful with her recently reset arm.

"I don't have a 'deal', Livia."

"Oh, yes you do. What is this? An assassination attempt? Are you going to poison my army? Is this a suicide mission? What are you really here for?!" demanded the Roman woman, glaring at the Spartan commander and just daring him to lie to her face. "Tell me your ulterior motive!"

Verus shook his head. "Livia, I have no other reason for being here other than the one I presented to you earlier. Sparta is falling, Livia, but the rulers refuse to give up. We are trying desperately to either conquer or make alliances with certain empires."

"You can't be the commander of the Spartan army. You're too soft. I have seen men from that army and they are some of the most brutal in the world, beating their men and teaching the youth how to steal for their dinner."

"Why do you refuse to trust me, Livia? What is it about me that you don't like?" asked Verus with narrowed eyes.

Livia considered his question and how she would answer. "Because you're different. I have never met a man like you in my life. You've got this carefree air about you that just gets to me," she admitted almost guiltily, lifting and dropping her hand on her war table in exasperation. A weary expression settled on her face, the dark rings around her eyes becoming more distinct.

"I swear to you on the head of my king that during my stay here, I shall cause no harm to you, your army, or anything of the Romans'. My presence here is entirely innocent."

The woman eyed him for a moment, and then sighed. "Alright, but if you do anything that shows signs of hostility towards me or my men, I'll have you killed before you know what you've done."

He bowed low at the waist and replied, "As you wish, Milady."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Livia gasped with relief as she felt the cool water cascade around her body. It felt good to wash away her worries and rest her tired muscles. She laid her head on the bank of the river and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She soon moved into the middle of the river and washed her arms, hair, and upper body, then swam a few laps out of habit.

"Looks like we both had the same idea," came a voice not two feet away from Livia.

The woman jumped and whirled around to find a grinning Verus. She ducked farther down into the water, covering her chest with her arms, and snarled at him. "Did you enjoy the view?" she spat, glaring at the man.

He shrugged. "Wasn't that bad." He quickly moved out of range before she could hit him for that comment.

"Ugh, you are just so… so… URGH!" hissed Livia angrily. She splashed the water at him and narrowed her pale blue eyes.

"Okay, since we're both here, do you need help washing your back?" Verus asked, holding up the sponge he had brought.

Livia considered his offer for a moment, and then nodded. "Alright, but don't try anything with me, _pal_." Not that she thought he would.

"As you wish, Milady." He took the sponge and began to gently scrub the woman's back, idly massaging the tense muscles there as he did. "Your muscles are very tight. Come here."

With no verbal response, she moved closer to him and he began a rubdown of her back. His skilled hands moved up and down, following the flow of her muscles and loosening them under his gentle touch. "How does that feel?" he asked, leaning down to whisper in her ear heatedly, his breath tickling her neck.

This was the first thing he had done since their meeting that wasn't gentleman-like. Livia was glad she wasn't the only one turned on by this bath. "It feels absolutely wonderful," she murmured, rolling her head on her shoulders. "You're very good with your hands."

He chuckled at her choice of words, but said nothing.

Livia felt her back loose all tenseness and turned around to face the man, noticing that he didn't even steal innocent glances at her exposed breasts. "Now it's your turn."

Verus turned around as the woman began to scrub his back. Unlike hers, his back wasn't tense at all. He leaned into her touch and she stood up on her tiptoes in the water, running her tongue up the back of his neck up to his ear.

"How does _that feel?"_

He moaned and turned to face her, running his hand along her cheek. "It feels _absolutely wonderful."_

Livia smiled and moved closer to him, her body only slightly touching his. "Would you like some more?"

  
Verus grinned and nodded, taking her small hand into his large one. "More would be fine with me." He placed a kiss on her knuckles, and then leaned in to kiss her lips.

Just before their lips made first contact, a voice interrupted the moment, "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to intrude, Milady!"

The two commanders looked up into the face of Cesarius, who was not trying very hard not to look at Livia's nude body.

Verus got out of the water. "It's alright. Enjoy your bath." After getting out of the pleasantly cool river, he wrapped a towel around his lower body and went off.

Livia glared at Cesarius and said, "Go thirty feet downriver or I'll snap your neck before you can take one more look."

**PRESENT**

Eve chuckled at the memory. She then looked to Virgil, who was silently considering her story and letting a grin tweak at his face. "I thought Cesarius was going to piss in his pants," she said, her grin widening.

Virgil had to laugh at that. "Army life must've been fun for you. I would imagine the action around there never ended."

"Actually, it never was very fun to me. To tell the truth, I never really felt anything but a lust for sex and a lust for blood when I was commander. Now that I don't have men who throw themselves at my feet before I enter my tent for the night, I'm happy." She yawned and stretched her arms above her head. "Um, Virg', I think I'm gonna get some sleep, okay? We'll continue this tomorrow"

The tall man grinned as he stood up, stretching his long arms and legs. "Yeah, I'm kinda tired as well. I'll just go get a room in a tavern and-"

"No, that's alright. You can sleep in the big bed. No one can get in or out of this place now, since the sun has most likely set. I had Ares put a protection shield on the door so that nighttime attacks wouldn't be of worry to the caretaker, Satri."

Virgil looked at the large bed. "Where are you going to sleep, then?"

"I'll just find a comfy rug on the floor. No big deal." She moved to leave but Virgil took hold of her arm to stop her.

"No wait. It's a really big bed and I think we both could fit," suggested the man out of sympathy for the woman. "Or I could sleep on the floor."

Eve shook her head. "Nah. I think we'll be just fine. I'll say goodnight to Callie so you can have some time to yourself, alright?" He agreed with a nod and wandered over to the corner with the large bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What do you mean we can't get in?!" demanded Xena as she watched Satri struggle with the door to a large building.

"I stayed out too late. Inside this building is your daughter, but we won't be able to get inside until tomorrow. "Mars himself put a nighttime protection over this place."

Xena counted to ten. Then backwards from ten to one. Then to twenty. "This doesn't happen often, does it? No, don't answer that… Alright then, do you know where we can stay tonight?"

"Um, we'll stay at my good friend's house. You and Gabrielle can have your own room there for no fee at all."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve stroked Callie's face lovingly. "Callie, I'm so sorry for leaving you all these years. I promise that you can come with me this time. We'll stay here for a few more days so you can get ready, then you can come home with Mommy. Although… I don't know where 'home' is yet."

Callie smiled sleepily. "Mama?"

"Yes, Little One?"

"Is Virgil gonna be my daddy now?"

Eve thought about how to word her next sentence, seeing that the young child had really taken to the gentle man. "Sweetie, Virgil and I aren't married, we aren't seeing each other, and we never will be. Virgil can be your daddy, but he won't be related to me, alright?"

"Yes Mommy."

As Eve wandered back over to the large bed, she worked hard to keep her eyes diverted from Virgil's shirtless body. With his muscular chest on display, it was all she could do. She climbed into bed and they both turned away from the other, moving as far away as they could get whilst being next to each other.

"G'night," muttered Eve, pulling the covers over her bare shoulders.

"G'night," replied Virgil, letting her have all the blankets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Virgil was the first one awake. He yawned and stretched his arms above his head. Then he felt the hair in his mouth… and the body on top of his. Virgil timidly looked down at Eve's sleeping form, which was sprawled on top of him. He moved his legs, which were tangled with Eve's. The woman groaned, let out a happy sigh, and adjusted her head on his chest. Virgil cringed as she felt her legs shift next to his groin. _Ooooh, this is so not good_, he thought in alarm. When he shifted again, Eve woke up. She looked at her position on top of him and then at the unnerved look on his face. "Oh my gods! I am so sorry Virgil!" She all but jumped off the bed, covering her reddening face with her hands in embarrassment.

"It's alright. You were asleep and didn't know what you're doing. I was just trying to figure out how we got into that position and how I was gonna get out without waking you up. I've seen you when you're woken up too early in the morning," Virgil said with a nervous laugh.

Eve blushed and looked at the ground, almost on the verge of tears in shame.

"Anyway, I'll be right back," he informed her, putting on his vest and leaving the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xena pulled on her leathers and waited as Gabrielle tied them in the back. "It still amazes me how you ever figured out how to tie that."

Gabrielle grinned. "Well, after so much practice taking them off… you would think I would be able to put them back on." She nipped Xena's ear playfully and threw on her own clothes. "Do you think Satri is awake yet?"

"Probably. She looks like the type who doesn't take any chances. I wonder why she knows where Eve is."

"I don't like her, Xe. She trusted us too quickly and there's just something about her that just… urgh, I just don't trust her." The bard shook her head irritably.

"Me either." The warrior fingered her chakram out of habit. "Ya know what, I know I haven't exactly been paying the most attention to you over the last few days and I've been thinking about what you said about leaving Eve alone. I mean, since Satri says Eve is alright then what should I be worrying about?"

Gabrielle scoffed at this.

"So I'm gonna make it up. How about we go into the woods and have a little vacation for two days? Since we have a mutual distrust for this woman why don't we just give up the search for awhile until we can get some good, clean info?"

"No worries about Eve?"

"No worries about my Eve," confirmed the warrior with a wide smile.

Gabrielle smiled and picked up her pack. "When do we leave?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil returned to the room after having taken care of his morning business. Eve was sitting on the bed with Callie curled up in her lap. "Is she asleep?" he mouthed.

She nodded and avoided eye contact with him.

"Listen, Eve, I'm not mad about what happened. I know you didn't do it on purpose and I'm willing to let it go if you are," he said softly, approaching mother and daughter.

  
Eve sighed and whispered, "I'm good and ready to let it go, but I don't want to offend you in any way, shape, or form. I—I'm sorry."

He shook his head and smiled comfortingly. "Let's just forget it ever happened, alright?"

"Alright… do you want me to continue the story?"

Virgil chuckled and sat back in a chair. "Well, I _am_ kinda anxious to find out if you snapped the guy's neck or not."

Eve chuckled.

**SEVEN** **YEARS** **AGO**

A few days after the incident in the river, Livia found herself lost in a feeling she had never felt before. It wasn't lust, no. This was something different. She had never felt this with another man in her entire life. All day and all night, all she could think about was the bath and how Verus's deep hazel eyes seemed to look into her very soul. Only one explanation came to her after hours of thinking and wondering what was happening to her: she was in love… with Verus, Commander of the Spartan Army. They hadn't seen each other since the bath, and she wondered if he were avoiding her or they just didn't have the time to see her. So that night she decided to go visit him. She inconspicuously wandered over to his tent and lightly knocked on one of the tent's wooden poles. "Verus?"

A ruffling sound came from inside, followed by a slightly groggy "Hello?"

"Um, it's me, Livia. Could I speak with you for a moment?" asked the woman, giving cold stares to a few nameless footmen as they walked hurriedly by. The last thing they wanted was to cross paths with their commander.

The tent flap opened and a half-dressed Verus appeared. "Of course." He let her inside and sat in a chair as she settled herself on the bed. "What did you wanna talk about?" asked the Spartan commander, getting right to the point.

"Verus, I'm having these feelings that I can't explain. I think… I think I'm in love with you, but I want to know if you feel this way too," said the commander of the Roman army almost timidly. She had never been so open with her feelings to anyone. Treading so freely into emotional territory was like a giant leap into the unknown for her.

Verus sighed and sat back in his chair. "Livia… I have waited for you to say that. I admit I've had some women around me, but I like your fire, your spirit. You remind me of that warrioress, Xena: the Warrior Princess, from the stories I've heard."

The young woman fingered her skirt nervously. "She was a wonderful warrior. I could never amount to what she achieved as a warlord or a warrior."

Verus simply stood and moved closer to the woman in reply. Livia's breath caught in her chest as Verus kissed her, almost hesitantly at first. Then it became more aggressive, and she returned it without protest.

**PRESENT**

"...so that night we made love. I thought I was in heaven—that it could never end... After we took Helicon and rested for a month or two there to replenish my army's supplies and things like that, we started on the boat ride to Egypt..."

**SEVEN** **YEARS** **AGO**

Livia hurled what was left of her breakfast over the side of the ship and groaned miserably. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and turned around to find Verus worriedly coming towards her.

"I don't understand what's happening. I've never been seasick like this before," said the young woman, closing her eyes as the ship rocked and another wave of nausea hit her.

Verus shrugged and wrapped his arms around his lover's waist, placing a soft kiss behind her ear. "It'll pass. I want you to go under deck and get some rest." He nuzzled her neck affectionately.

The woman smiled and nodded, yawning in exhaustion as she did. "I don't think sending a messenger to the healer to meet us in Egypt is necessary." Why did she feel so damn _tired_?

"Oh, yes it is. I don't want anything happening to you, Love," whispered Verus, running his hands up her back sensuously. "Just get some rest and I'm sure you'll be fine in a day or two." Livia kissed him lightly on the lips and ventured under the ship's deck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In her quarters, she entered to find Cesarius looking through her and Verus's things. "Cesarius, what are you doing?" she demanded angrily.

The lieutenant jumped and turned around to face her nervously. "I was just, ah, checking to make sure that your stuff was ready to take off the ship when we arrived, ma'am."

Livia glared at him. "This is my ship. There's no need to take it off." Cesarius gulped. The young woman caught sight of glinting metal in his hands. "What is that?" she asked, pointing to it and slowly moving forward.

Her lieutenant held up a bag of herbs that Verus took every day, claiming that a healer had told him it kept up his health in times when nutrition was sparse. He never missed a dose.

She snatched it from him. "What are you doing with this?"

Cesarius shrugged, then gasped as Livia pushed him up against the wall, her forearm pressing into his neck. "Listen to me, if I ever catch you trying to do something to Verus again I'll make you pass through the gauntlet, with both Verus _and me at the end, should you make it __that far."_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What do you mean?" asked Verus angrily, rousing Livia from her sleep. She lifted her head and heard muffled voices outside her door. They had arrived in Egypt just a few hours ago, and she was still unusually tired, even after her three-hour nap. "You old coot!" shouted Verus, followed by more muffled conversation.

Livia groggily rose from the bed and ventured over to the door, pressing her ear up against it.

"…she can't be. You don't understand. We're in the army! Tell me you're lying or I'll snap your neck so fast that you—"

Livia opened the door and looked at her lover, who was pinning an elderly healer against the wall. "Verus, what's going on here?"

Verus let go of the man, watching as he slid to the ground gasping for air, and licked his lips nervously. "Baby, there's something I have to tell you…"

**PRESENT**

"...and that's the first time I found out I was pregnant. I didn't believe it, and neither did Verus, but after a few weeks it was unmistakable. I began to fill out, ever so slightly of course, and the morning sickness got worse, then better. We didn't want the men to know. I had too many enemies to take that risk. So after we had gotten Verus's army in Egypt, he agreed to come with me back to Greece. Then I began the campaign that broke us apart..."

**SEVEN YEARS** **AGO**

Livia was glad for the oncoming of winter as she stepped out of her tent, her large woolen cloak draped carefully around her shoulders. Her sword hanging in its sheath behind her back, she grinned at the sight of her men assembled so orderly before her. "Mars Legion, today is the day our campaign to take Athens begins. We will start with the surrounding villages for miles, slowly expanding the Roman Empire from our newly-conquered post in Helicon." Her men cheered their commander, the ground shaking with their booming war cries and shouts of support for the campaign. Livia smiled and then barely contained a wince as she felt the child move inside her for the first time. "I want six hours of training to be fitted in every day. Rations are increased by one cup of grain at midday meal and evening meal. My soldiers will not starve without proper cause, and for now I see no cause." This elicited another cheer, but not for the increased training. "Begin." She turned and went back into her tent as her men split up to begin their doubled training hours. The woman reached inside her cloak and ran her hand over the swell of her stomach as soon as the tent flap closed behind her. "You getting restless, Little One?"

Verus entered the tent, his face twisted into an angry frown. "Livia!"

She turned to him, her eyes cold in annoyance for the tone he was using. "Yes, Verus?"

"You cannot take Greece now! Why not wait a few months?" he pleaded, taking her hand in his and kissing it lightly.

"Verus, I have been promised by the God of War himself to become the empress of Rome, and I won't waste that on a lost cause." She tugged her hand away from him.

"Livia, you're willing to sacrifice this child for something you're not even sure you're gonna become? What if you get killed in battle?"

"Ares would never allow it. He has plans for me much too big to let me go now."

"Ares this, Ares that. Are you sure he's on your side? The God of War is known as a conniving, conceited god who is hated by those on Olympus and Earth alike. He only works for himself, and you know it!"

Livia glared at him. "I would not speak of him in that way when you are on his land. He might just lift his protection from you in battle."

Verus sighed and moved closer, removing her cloak to reveal her distended stomach. "Look, it's my child too, and I want to see it born. Please, at least take it easy? Let the men do the fighting, they're good enough."

With a sigh, Livia nodded. "Fine, but if I see that I start to lose excess men because of this, I'm going all-out." She pushed past him and exited the tent.

**PRESENT**

Xena grinned as she massaged Gabrielle's feet. "Better now?"

Gabrielle nodded and mumbled, "Keep going."

The warrior chuckled as she continued to rub the bard's feet and ankles. "I still don't see how you hurt your feet riding on that horse." She stole a glance to the black stallion standing next to her palomino.

"His name's Black and I didn't get hurt riding him, I got hurt dismounting," replied the bard, thoroughly enjoying her massage.

"I told you to land on both feet."

"And I told you to catch me."

Xena chuckled again and considered that. "Well, if 'Black' wasn't so darn tall then maybe you'd be able to get off him. I told you to get that little white one."

Gabrielle opened one eye and glared at the warrior. "That was a pony."

Xena barely contained her smile as she replied, "Yes, and it was _still_ taller than you." She received a good hard kick under the chin for that one. "Hey, I'm the one rubbing your feet!"

"At least mine aren't stinky."

  
The warrior shook her head, knowing that the bard had successfully forestalled any more argument from her.

Then, a twig snapped not too far away and it triggered a chain reaction. Xena jumped up and grabbed her sword in one hand, chakram in the other, then went straight into her battle stance, eyes darting around so fast it was almost undetectable. Gabrielle ran over and picked up her sais, jumping into a fighting stance against Xena's back. "What was that?" she asked, her emerald eyes never leaving the trees.

"It sounded like human weight, but I don't see anything, you?" replied the warrior, pale blue eyes traveling the forest floor for any signs of an ambush.

Suddenly an arrow flew out of nowhere and missed Xena's arm by less than an inch.

"Alright, show yourself!" demanded Xena, holding her chakram up. When no one answered she hurled it into the trees, a satisfied grin flashing over her face as she heard metal hit flesh again and again.

Ten or twelve men fell from the trees, swords in hand even though they had been hit by Xena's chakram. One of the men, obviously the leader, stepped forward, his sword held up with the business end pointing towards Xena and Gabrielle. "We have orders to kill you, and that's just what we're going to do. So give yourselves up and die quickly, or suffer."

TBC…


	3. Gone with the Wind

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters here that appear in the hit syndicated TV Show, Xena: Warrior Princess. I do, however, own any and all original characters. 

Summary: Eve has a secret, and it will cost her everything to keep it safe.

My Callisto 

By

Mystik

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xena glanced from one man to the other, contemplating to herself the odds of beating them. One had a club, two had pikes, and the rest had swords. Their armor seemed very good, made of a silverish alloy she had never seen before.

The warrior came to one conclusion: piece of cake.

"Why do you want to kill us?" asked Gabrielle as she and Xena turned around in circles with their backs pressed together.

"It has been ordered," replied the leader, stepping closer to the two woman. Engraved into his armor was a picture of the gorgon Medusa, her snake-hair waving wildly and her mouth open in a dangerous snarl.

"Ordered by whom?" said Xena, skillfully twirling her sword then pointing it to the three men closest to her. In all her years of experience, she found that intimidation was the main downfall of warriors. And it was always funny to watch them pee in their trousers.

"You don't need to know that, 'cause we're about to kill you, wench!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"…and so Thracia finally told Sarcadus she loved him, and they lived happily ever after. The End." Eve rolled up the scroll she had been reading from and placed her sleeping daughter on the bed. "Sleep tight, Little One." She kissed her child's forehead softly and quietly left the underground room.

Eve found Virgil in the tavern sitting by himself. After ordering a drink at the bar, the young woman sat down across the table from him. "Listen, Virgil, are you sure you don't want to go home? I'm sure your mother would love to see you," suggested the woman, seeing that his face was troubled and deep in thought.

Virgil set his drink down and laced his fingers together, leaning forward to make their conversation more private. "We've already been over this."

"Yeah, I know… my mother will rip you limb from limb if you don't stay with me," muttered Eve with a sad little sigh. Sometimes her mother ruled her life while she wasn't even there, as if Eve were still just a child and nothing more.

"It's not just that," said the man, pushing his chair out from under the table. "I care about Callie… and I also care about you." He left the tavern before Eve could register the weight of what he had said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sorry, boys, but I still have a few years yet before I die," announced Xena before lunging for the closest man. "AL-AL-AL-AL-AL CHIIIIIIIAAAAAAAA!"

She lashed out at him with her sword, hurling her chakram into the air at the same time. He parried her swing and pushed her back into a tree. As she rubbed her spine, he waved her back over, mouthing 'Come and get it'.

"You're getting rough with the _wrong_ woman, buster." She jumped up and ran at him, sword extended. He quickly moved out of the way, kicking her in the back as she passed.

Xena ducked and rolled across the ground as two pikes and a club went flying over her head and slammed into two trees. "One at a time, men. There's plenty butt-kicking to go around. Whoa!" She caught a dagger right before it jammed into the space between her eyes. "Ah, damn!" The knife dropped from her bloody fingers onto the ground, staining the grass dark maroon. She looked up at the four men surrounding her. "No more playing around."

Gabrielle parried a sword and kicked her attacker's feet out from under him, knocking him unconscious with a swift punch in midair. She then scurried out of the way as two men came charging at her, letting herself chuckle a bit as they rammed into each other and fell to the ground, out cold. Three more men surrounded the bard, swords menacingly poking at her.

"I've seen Xena do this a million times," thought the bard out loud. She jumped into the air as the men charged. The blonde came down on the men's sword tips, pushing the blades harmlessly into the ground, and spun around with her fists extended, knocking the three men down. "Ow!" She looked down at her bruised knuckles and cursed, "Damn it! Xena always makes it look so easy!"

Xena rolled out of the way as a club came down not inches from her. Rolling the other way, she stopped before a pike crushed her skull. "What is this, 'Pick on the Warrior Princess' day?" She got to her feet in a crouching position and grinned devilishly. The remaining men all came at her and she thrust her legs out, spinning around and around with her hands holding her up as her feet knocked them all down. 

She grabbed the only one still conscious and put The Pinch on him. "I've just cut off the flow of blood to your brain. You have thirty seconds to tell me what I want to know. Who sent you?"

The man struggled to get up, but with no avail.

"Don't bother trying to move. You'll just make your death come sooner... twenty seconds."

"We were sent by… by Satri. She wishes to keep the child of… Livia for ransom…"

Xena took The Pinch off and glared at him. "What ransom?"

"She knows that Livia has a great stock of money in the Roman banks, and now that Livia is no longer a commander and no longer has the strength to kill in cold blood, Satri wants all the money for her own. She doesn't fear for her life."

"What child?" asked Xena, suddenly realizing what he had said.

"Young Callisto, the girl Satri is caring for, and daughter of Livia."

SEVEN YEARS AGO 

Livia rammed her sword through the chest of a nearby villager, all but laughing as he sank to the ground. Thick, dark red blood gurgled and bubbled on his lips, down his chin, and onto the sand-covered ground until his heart no longer pumped. She grinned and kicked his lifeless body into a fire for the sheer joy of the smell. The smell of death.

Of fresh blood.

She raised her sword to her face and licked the blood from it, reveling in the coppery taste; the smooth, thick texture. A demonic chuckle escaped her lips.

Two villagers tried to attack her at the same time, but she kicked one in the face, ramming the bone back into his brain and killing him, then grabbed the other man. "Say hello to Callisto for me. Tell her that her footsteps are fun things to follow in," she whispered before slitting his throat, starting at one end of the jaw bone and making an arch-shaped cut to the other. "But I'm making my own blood trail."

Frothy red bubbles spilled out of the man's mouth as he fell to the ground, dead. His blood leaked from his neck and pooled with the blood of his kinsmen, creating a dark red lake of death that spread from one end of the town to the other.

A white flag went up from the village's City Hall and Livia commanded her army to stop, making sure to kill just one more man before halting the attack.

The mayor of the village stepped forward. His arm had almost been ripped out of its socket, the flesh torn and tattered, with deep sword marks running up and down it. One of his eyes were badly damaged by a sword point. "We surrender. You are the new ruler of this village. Take what you wish and do what you will."

Livia pushed a body off her sword, grinning evilly as it fell to the ground with a dull thud. She snapped her fingers and her lead archer killed the mayor. 

"Thank you for the surrender. We will enjoy pillaging and using this town as a post to stock up on supplies," she purred dangerously to the old man's dead body, then addressed the hiding villagers. "If you do not return to your huts we will burn all empty huts and when we find you… we'll burn you right along with the hovels you refer to as 'home'… Search the village!"

PRESENT 

"…I was so lost in my bloodlust that I barely had time to acknowledge the growth of the being inside me. I had loved the child at one time, but after awhile Verus's coddling and babying me because I was pregnant grew old and I started despising the source of all that unneeded attention. I didn't leave him, no. His allied power was much too important and my feelings for him were still strong beyond compare, only I didn't know it…"

SEVEN YEARS AGO 

Livia inhaled deeply the scent of burning wood and scorched flesh. Some villagers had chosen to try and escape, but what a _mistake_ that had been. They had been no match for her trackers, and were thrown into the fires of their homes alive. Like the burning fires of hell, their very souls were burned through and through. Their screams of agony and pain could be heard echoing off the nearby mountains.

Cesarius approached Livia and saluted.

"Report," commanded the woman as she concentrated on a burning home, watching the bodies inside it slowly disintegrate.

"We lost two warriors, ma'am. All the huts that were found empty were first looted then burned, as you commanded."

Livia gave him an evil, yet somewhat satisfied smile. "Good boy. Please inform the men to return all goods to the supplies caravan before picking out the villagers that are to be sold as slaves. I want this place up and running, but take as many people for slaves as possible."

"And if they should resist?"

Livia turned her back to the man and looked around. "Cesarius, what do you think?"

Cesarius grinned gleefully. "So you mean we can…?"

"Yes. Kill 'em! Slit their throats and watch as they sink to the ground in a puddle of their own self-pity and agony. _That_ is what you may do."

PRESENT 

"… after conquering that one village my men starting believing they were _unstoppable… and _that_ is just what they became. Our bloodlust increased, we were killing more and more with each village we took. Crucifixion became a favored way of ending lives. The men loved the feel of driving metal through bone and the—the flesh. But soon I became too pregnant to fight, and that's when the men turned against Verus…"_

SEVEN YEARS AGO 

Verus stormed towards Livia's tent, his mind bubbling with anger for how she had mutilated the people of the last village she had conquered. "Livia!" he called, then was roughly pushed back by Cesarius and Dephon before he made the tent flap. "What's the meaning of this, Cesarius, Dephon?"

The two officers crossed their arms, narrowing their eyes at him, but said nothing.

"Get out of my way before I have you punished," ordered Verus, definitely _not in the mood for this kind of attitude._

Cesarius chuckled and pushed Verus even farther back from Livia's tent. "Oh, and whatcha gonna do? Huh, huh? You gonna pelt me with flowers until I laugh?" he mocked, shoving the commander into a supply cart.

Verus glared at the Roman and pushed him out of the way. "If you'll excuse me, Cesarius." He went into Livia's tent without giving the men a backwards glance.

The men laughed at his back as he walked away, Dephon calling, "Go ahead and run away. We have plans in store for you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Livia looked up as Verus came into her tent. "What do you want now, Verus?" she asked him in a bored tone. She was sitting at her war table with her feet propped up on a chair to relieve the weight from her swollen ankles.

"I'm begging you to stop this, Livia. That satyr village you captured today, it was totally irrelevant to your conquest for Athens. You're _not immortal, Livia, and if you begin to believe it someone __will conquer __you."_

The young woman looked up into his face and narrowed her eyes. "You know, Verus, at first glance you seem like a perfect gentleman, a guy who does no wrong with women. But realize this: I'm in the prime of my life and pregnant. I love you, I really do, but the more I think about it the more I know you used me. You used me for an heir of warrior blood. Sparta is in desperate need of new leaders, and you lied your way to me just to get a child from a woman worthy of Sparta. Not only that… but you believed that I would be obligated to create an alliance with you for the safety of our child. Well it's not going to work, Verus."

"Livia… that was the first plan… but it's changed now. I love you."

"That's what I thought. Guards! Please show Verus and his army the backwoods."

**PRESENT**

Eve wiped a tear from her eye and sniffled. "I sent him away with his army but he made sure to stay at least half a day's ride behind me. He loved me as well and didn't want anything happening to me or our child." She sniffled again and wiped away more tears, refusing to look Virgil in the eye as she continued. "One night, after conquering a satyr camp, the pains began…"

SEVEN YEARS AGO 

Livia was looking over a map of the remaining villages she had yet to conquer until she reached Athens. There were about fifty more villages and small towns, each about a day's march away from each other. The young commander had been strategically moving around Athens in a spiral form, slowly surrounding and trapping Greece's capital.

"It'll take too long for us all to capture every single village. I want the army split into three parts and sent with an officer to start conquering villages at assigned points. We'll meet three miles southeast of the village Ignocia in four weeks' time," she said to the three officers to be sent with the armies.

Dephon, Daemon, and Cesarius nodded.

"And if Verus should interfere?" asked Dephon.

"Should he have the guts to show his face here, you are to bring him to me alive. I'll deal with him in my own means. Leave me now."

Her three highest rank officers saluted and left the tent.

As soon as they were gone Livia doubled over and lay on her bed, holding her stomach in pain.  "Gods help me," she whispered to the darkness, her bottom lip quivering in pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dephon turned and continued his patrol of the southern border. His dark eyes searched for anything unusual, knowing that Verus's army lay somewhere watching this side of camp. With a sigh, the captain pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders; watching as his breath came out in puffs of steam.

"Dephon," said a voice from the darkness.

The Roman turned around then gasped as two hands reached out and snapped his neck. He was dead before he hit the ground. Verus solemnly said a prayer to Hades for the fallen officer and moved farther into Livia's territory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just relax, Livia," said Livia's personal healer, Satri, as she stroked the young commander's forehead. "This is your first birth and it may take a little more time. You're not very far along at all, and the pains are just beginning."

"That's so comforting," snapped Livia.

There was a knock at the door and Livia threw on her cloak. "Come in," she said as she stood with the help of Satri.

Cesarius came running in, short of breath. "The satyr's have gotten loose!"

Livia ran outside and elbowed a satyr in the face as he passed by, bending down the best she could and tying his hooves together. "Tie them up! Make sure they don't leave camp, and if they get away you have permission to kill them!"

As her men rounded up the beasts, she caught sight of Verus standing like a rock amidst the chaos of a river. His arms behind his back, his eyes caught her in a cold gaze that they held until neither could stand it.

"Verus, what do you want?" she hissed, stepping closer to him.

Her men were bound to see him in a moment and, considering their hatred for him, would probably kill the Spartan commander in less than a heartbeat. "Let's talk," he called.

"You let the satyrs loose, didn't you?" accused Livia, her anger boiling. How dare that—that man interrupt her plans for fame and fortune. Didn't he know what an opportunity for her this was? "_Didn't you_?" she screamed, on the verge of tears.

He said nothing in reply, only looked down at his boots guiltily. He hadn't meant to turn her against him like this…

"No talk. Get _out of __my camp," she commanded with an icy glare._

"As you wish, Milady."

PRESENT 

Eve paused long enough to take a drink. "We rounded up as many of the satyrs as we could, including the leader. I went outside to speak with them despite the pains…"

SEVEN YEARS AGO 

Livia's cold blue eyes traveled from one satyr to the other, daring them to speak. She stopped a few feet away from them and grinned devilishly. "Give yourselves up now, beasts, or prepare to meet your _twisted_ maker."

The leader of the satyrs, whose name was Franco, replied solemnly, "Do what you will with us, She-Devil, for your hatred will someday lead to your death."

Satyr's were faun-like creatures with sharp horns, deadly hooves, and thick black or brown fur either on the lower part of their body or from the neck down. They were good fighters and were known to attack innocent travelers who passed through their land, but they could also be hired out as protectors of villages who gave them crops in return.

Livia laughed evilly, then straightened out her face and began to walk towards the seven captured satyrs. "_I_ am the _Destroyer of Nations. It has been foretold by the God of War that I shall someday be empressof Rome. Then, one day, I shall carry the heir to Rome's throne, and my child will rule on in Augustus's place. I have had his favor since I was a mere child and I have spent my life proving myself to him._

"You filthy beasts are nothing more than _pawns_ in my ascent to the most _powerful_ woman in the most _powerful_ empire in the world. Slavers pay high prices for broken-in satyrs and merchants give even _more for their fur and horns."_

"What shall we do with them, Milady?" asked Cesarius, bloodlust shimmering in his black eyes as he yanked on the chains of the satyr he was holding at bay. The satyr's hooves faltered and he fell flat on his face, horns digging into the ground.

"Crucify them. Crucify them all!"

PRESENT 

Xena angrily hurled her stuff into Argo's saddlebags. "A child! She has a child and she never even mentioned it! How could she?! I thought we reached an understanding of _truth!" she huffed, her rage building by the moment._

Gabrielle grabbed Xena's arm before the warrior pulled a muscle or--or burst a vein or something of that nature. "Xena, calm down. You don't know that that man was telling the truth and the only way to answer your questions is to find out where Eve is and speak with her about it. So just calm down and we'll figure it out like we always do, okay?"

Xena sighed and nodded glumly. "Fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Did your army crucify them?" asked Virgil curiously. He had been taking notes on the story and was sure that this would someday become a real moneymaker.

Eve took another drink and swallowed deeply. "Well, Cesarius pulled out a hammer and some nails but before we could get the satyrs in check, a runner came up yelling that Dephon was found dead at the southern border. I knew instantly that that was how Verus had gotten in. But there was nothing I could do, because my child's time was soon at hand and the pains were getting worse…"

SEVEN YEARS AGO 

"What shall we do, milady?" asked Daemon, looking to the woman, his hands wringing themselves out nervously.

Livia held in a groan as a pain moved through her body. "Crucify the satyrs and place their corpses outside Athens. Then those Greeks will finally know what's soon coming to them." She turned to go back inside the safety of her tent, and then whirled back around as the sound of metal hitting metal was made.

Verus shoved Cesarius to the ground then turned to Daemon. The Roman drew his own sword, but before he could get a good handle on it, two thuds were made as his head and his body both hit the floor. Verus freed the remaining satyrs and jumped on his horse, running away with the beasts before Livia's men could react.

"You may have won this battle, Verus, but you'll never win the war!" Livia called after him, her hatred for the man not increasing but _definitely_ not decreasing. "Five extra sentries at every border, ten extra scouts at each compass point! Cesarius, find some slaves and then execute the plans we had for the sentries. I am not to be bothered while I am inside my tent for _any_ reason."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two Athenian soldiers approached the two crosses with bloody corpses on them. The dead bodies had been totally mutilated, hands ripped and fingers torn off, bone and all. Blood leaked from the back of their necks, right where the neural connection had been broken along with the spine. Their feet were shredded into jagged edges of flesh and bone, so that no flesh remained but the parts above where a nail had been driven through.

On one of the corpses the leg had been ripped in two at the knee, the sun-parched bone sticking out in horrific ways. On the other one the elbow had been shattered, then the arm bent the wrong way with the hand barely attached by the shredded flesh of the wrist.

But the most horrifying of the bodies were their eyes. Their cold, screaming eyes that remained pinned open with small tacks so that they would remain that way forever. Eyes that reflected pain and immense suffering, of deaths that would make one want to spend eternity in Tartarus instead of feel the agony of their bodies twisted in grotesque ways.

Mothers turned their children away; men and older boys felt the tears welling up in their eyes. The sight aroused an anger inside them that they had never felt before, yet mixed up inside that anger was an inescapable fear. A fear of their fate, if they should meet the same deaths as these poor souls… a fear of their killer, one more demonic than Callisto ever was… a reminder of how horrible Xena had been.

Nailed to the crosses' v posts were the words:

"'See what kind of deaths are coming to you, and fear the name 'Livia' for it means 'doom' in all languages, and 'suffering' in Greek'," read one of the soldiers to the gathered crowd, right before falling to the ground, dead.

An arrow with a note attached to it protruded from his chest.

The other soldier read the note out loud, "'Fear. Fear what is coming to you, for it is worse than what this man has suffered, and far more painful than what the men on the crosses suffered through before finally leaving this realm. You have been warned.'"

PRESENT 

Xena dragged Argo farther into the stall, quickly taking off all their gear and washing the mare down. "Sorry for all the rush, Girl, but we gotta go find Eve before that Satri lady gets to her."

Gabrielle finished with her own horse and followed her friend as Xena exited the stables. "So what're we going to do now?"

"First we're gonna find Satri and take care of her… then we're going to make sure Eve and Virgil are alright."

"Ooh, we kick butt yes?" asked the bard anxiously.

Xena grinned and nodded. "Yup. That's exactly what we're gonna do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve continued, "The people of Athens were terrified and the guard was doubled. But I had it all planned out. I was going to conquer the surrounding villages and prevent any communication between them, taking long enough to douse some fear in Athens, then strike when they least expected it to happen. But that night, a few of my plans changed…"

SEVEN YEARS AGO 

Livia groaned in pain and grasped Satri's hand even tighter. "Do the problems ever cease, Satri?" asked the commander through her pain.

Satri simply moved away and poured boiled water into a bucket. "This problem will soon be over, milady, and then you are on a dead run for the empress of Rome."

"You will be handsomely rewarded for this, you do know that?"

"Yes, I do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cesarius held his hand out to steady his men as Verus's army came marching in perfect unison over a nearby hill. He watched silently as the Spartan commander approached, sword still sheathed as a sign of temporary peace. "Verus, back so soon?" he said sarcastically. It was a hatred-filled sarcasm, and that hatred was building by the moment.

"Cesarius, let me pass. I simply wish to talk with Livia," called Verus sullenly.

"She's done talking with you. I think she made that quite clear when she kicked you out of her tent, lover-boy," sneered Cesarius. His men snickered in the background.

"Let me pass, Cesarius, or else."

"Or else what? I know, how about a fight to the death, huh?" The Roman drew his sword threateningly. "Army versus army, lead man versus lead man. You up for it?" He held out his hand, gesturing for Verus to accept the challenge.

"Yes, that would be nice, Cesarius. Army… attack!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Livia moaned and let her head fall back as a contraction swelled and ebbed inside her.

"Don't push yet, Milady. What I want you to do is chew on this ice until I tell you to push, alright?" said Satri as she spoon-fed her commander some cold compresses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"YAARGH!" Cesarius lashed out at Verus, who jumped out of the way. Verus turned and slashed Cesarius's eye, making the Roman cry out in pain. He then roughly shoved him to the ground and kicked the Roman officer in the side until he was unconscious.

The Spartan commander ran over to Livia's tent, waiting for Satri to exit before going inside himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Livia," he whispered as he entered the tent.

The young woman looked up tiredly. "Verus… what're you doing here?" she asked, speaking slowly and carefully. A groan escaped her lips.

Verus smelt her breath. "You've been drugged with some kind of root. That's all the better, 'cause I'm going to get you out of here. Army life is no life for our child, okay? I'll be right back."

Livia smiled at him and took his hand. "I love you, Verus." She had to say it, if only for just one more time. For somewhere mixed up in all her hatred and spite for the man, she knew she loved him with all her heart.

"I love you, too, but right now I have to get you and the baby away from here!" He ran outside but came face to face with a sword point.

"I can't let you do that, Verus," hissed Satri. "Livia promises me too much for you to take her away now. I have so much to gain from her." She pressed the tip of her weapon into his neck.

"You're a traitor."

"Me? No, no, no, no, no. See, _you_ are the one who left. _You are the one who freed the satyrs and rescued them from Livia's use. _You_ are the one who got her pregnant and it is _you_ who shall pay for it," said the healer dangerously. She swung out at the Spartan man and sliced his leg wide open, causing him to double over in pain._

Cesarius came running up and Satri turned to him.

"You take it from here," she said to the burly man before once again entering Livia's tent with a few herbs and swaddling clothes.

"Don't have to tell me twice."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come on, Livia, push!" urged Satri, keeping her voice below the sounds of the heated battle outside the tent.

Men were grunting, groaning, dying just outside the thin walls of the tent, their swords creating thunder as they met. It was raining blood everywhere, from both Spartan and Roman soldiers.

Livia gasped in pain and leaned back on her elbows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Verus parried Cesarius's sword with his, pushing the Roman officer back a few feet, next to the large bonfire that lit the entire camp. "Why're you doing this?"

"Livia is the only hope Rome has to conquer Greece. Then we'll expand our empire to Egypt, Indus, Chin… and Sparta." He grabbed a flaming piece of wood from the fire and thrust it forward, first burning Verus's sword hand, and then his leg wound.

Verus cried out in pain and kicked Cesarius away, even closer to the fire. He put a hand to his leg and moved towards the fallen Roman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"AAAH!" Livia cried out, pushing with all her might to rid her body of the child inside.

"Just a little longer, Livia! Come on!" shouted the midwife.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Verus stopped approaching Cesarius. The Roman's eyes widened in fear for his life. "Mars forgive me for killing one of his best, but I must do this to get Livia out of here," he said, raising his fist to knock the Roman into the fire. Cesarius grabbed his sword and thrust it into Verus's chest. The Spartan commander flinched, but could not stop his onslaught, as it had already begun. He pushed Cesarius into the fire.

Both armies stopped their fighting for a split second as agonized screams of utter suffering rang through the air. It was the shout of a man suffering, dying slowly. Cesarius's blood-curdling scream bore right into every man's soul and made him shiver with fright. It was as if Tartarus had been opened up in the middle of the camp and the wails of the tortured were leaking through.

Then the screams stopped. Cesarius died, his scorched body still lying in the fire's flaming-hot coals and logs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"AAH! VEEEEEEEEERUUUUUS!" called Livia, pushing once again. An angered baby cry broke out, filling Livia's ears and melting a portion of the ice around her heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Verus turned and began his trek back to Livia's camp, his vision red around the edges as all his muscles began shutting down. He stumbled and lacked the strength to get back up, sharp pains all over his body as his blood pressure slowed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's your daughter, Livia," said Satri, turning to her commander with a void look on her face. She held the crying newborn in her arms, wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Livia half-smiled. "A girl? It's a girl?" she looked up in exhaustion. The tiny baby was covered in red wrinkles, like a giant raisin. On top of her head was a halo of golden hair, and, when the newborn's eyes finally opened, bright baby blues peeked out.

Satri handed the wailing baby to her mother and tugged on Livia's arm. "Come on, Livia, we have to go!" Livia groaned and stood with all her might, heavily leaning on Satri as they exited the tent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Verus looked up and coughed blood, his face stained with the dark liquid. Livia stopped and looked at him, suddenly oblivious to her daughter's wails.

"My… ch-child."

"It's a girl, Verus," whispered Livia, holding out the newborn for him to see. "See? It's a healthy little girl." Her lip quivered.

Verus smiled, then his arms sank to the ground. His eyes closed as his body slumped. His heart stopped, his breathing halted. He was dead.

"Verus? Verus, wake up!" called Livia as Satri gently pushed her onto a wagon. "Verus no! Come back, Verus!" she sobbed as the wagon began to move away. "Verus, don't leave me!"

PRESENT 

Eve stopped and broke down, letting the tears fall freely down her face. She began to wipe them away when she felt a gentle hand wipe them away for her. "Eve… it's alright," whispered Virgil, pulling the woman close.

For the first time in his life, Virgil realized the pain and suffering she had gone through. She never had a mother or father; never had friends, only professors and caretakers; had to live with thousands of men who didn't give a damn about her feelings; her first love had been killed by one of her soldiers; she had been persecuted again and again for her past deeds; and had been forced to give her only child away.

He stroked her hair comfortingly. "Eve, I'm so sorry. That must've been so horrible for you."

She leaned into his soothing touch and coughed a few times, her sobs still ragged and deep. "I loved him so much… but my hatred for the rest of the world… for myself… got him killed. I was the one who killed him, Virgil," whispered the young woman, closing her eyes. "It was all my fault! I killed him! His blood is on my hands!" she screamed, sobs raking through her body.

"No, no you didn't," said the man quietly, rubbing her back. "I now realize what you've gone through, Eve, and I don't blame you for anything you did. The Fates twisted your life, and none of the deeds you ever did were not provoked."

Eve sniffled, her sobs slowly subsiding as she began to feel safe tucked away into his safe, strong arms. For the first time in her life, she felt safe. "Thank you Virgil. You're the most caring person I've ever known."

Virgil just smiled and kissed the top of her head, rubbing small circles on her back as she began to fall into a restless, nightmare-filled asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xena burst into the house they had stayed at the night before and saw Satri staring out the window. "Come here!" she shouted, chasing the woman as she tried to run away. The warrior pounced on the dark woman, sitting on top of her and tying her hands behind her back. "All right, I want some answers."

Gabrielle helped her friend drag Satri to a seat and tie her to the chair. "Tell us about Callisto, now!" demanded the bard, her own dislike of this woman equaling but not exceeding Xena's.

"Callisto was the woman who killed your husband, Gabrielle. I look up to her for causing you that kind of pain," sneered Satri, spitting at her captors.

  
The bard delivered a firm slap to the dark woman's face. "_Don't play around with me! Tell me __right now or I'll have Xena snap your neck!"_

Satri was reluctant, but replied, "After Livia gave me full care of the child she sent me a total of one thousand dinars a month to take care of her. Mars gave us a safe room to keep the child in, and that's where I live. Callisto is seven years old, and her mother still hasn't found safety as the empress of Rome, and never will."

Xena glared at her. "Come show us this room, and _don't_ even _think_ about trying to escape. My chakram will show you the River Styx if you even _think about it!"_

Satri grinned and whistled shrilly; so high-pitched in fact that Xena and Gabrielle had to cover their ears in pain. She broke her ropes and knocked her would-be captors to the ground. After making sure the warrior and bard were tightly bound hand and foot, she ran out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve had fallen fast asleep in Virgil's arms and he carried her over to the large bed, covering her with the blankets. As he watched the woman sleep, he was unaware of Callie curiously watching from the other side of the room.

"Eve… you've suffered so much. I never realized the pain one can go through. I have loving parents, more brothers and sisters than I know what to with-" he smiled at the thought "-and a place that I can always come home to.

"I guess I always took that for granted, ya know? After hearing your story I can't really blame you for killing my father… In a way, I admire how you survived through all that. I know you don't see yourself as the best person in the world, but I think someone would be wise to choose Eve as their idol, not Livia.

"Because that's who you are: Eve. Livia is dead. The seemingly immortal woman is dead and in her place rules Eve, the one who's lasted through it all. If only you could see how you're a different person now. I know I do." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, wiping away a few dry tears from her rosy cheeks before exiting the room.

Callie looked after him with a smile. "Yes!" she pulled the covers over her head and giggled in pure delight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil idly stirred his ale with his finger, deep in thought. He realized that, as he had watched Eve sleep, there was a large part of him wanting to climb into that bed and protect her from all her pain, all her suffering. But there was always that smaller part of him that said it would never work out, that their differences would only drive them apart. His feelings for her were so mixed up…

"Move out of the way!" barked a big, burly man.

Virgil looked up and saw about twenty soldiers with the gorgon Medusa engraved in their armor approaching. He then looked to the door that led to Callie's chamber, then back to the men. At that moment his paternal instincts settled in, and he jumped up.

The men saw him and one of them began running for the door. Virgil took off at the same time, his long legs covering more ground than the soldiers'. He threw the door open and slammed it behind him, all the while calling, "Eve! Eve wake up!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve jerked out of her sleep as Virgil's distressed voice reached her ears. The heightened senses she had inherited from her mother also allowed her to hear the shouts of the men just outside the door. "Callie! Callie, come on," urged the woman, jumping from the covers and grabbing her pack. "Get some clothes and let's get outta here!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil grunted as the door burst open and he was pushed to the ground. He looked up at the chuckling men, his eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Let's finish this guy before getting the child. It's not like she and Livia will be going anywhere through those dirt walls!" said the leader of the men, moving to kick Virgil.

"AARGH!" One of the soldiers fell to the ground, unconscious, as a pot collided with his head.

Virgil looked up to find Eve and Callie standing in the doorway, Eve with a pair of wooden chobos in her hand and Callie carrying three packs.

"You better move out of the way, boys, before you learn what the Bitch of Rome is like when she's mad!" Eve shouted, pushing Callie farther back. "Stay here," she whispered to the small child.

One of the men went at Eve, but Virgil brought his hands around and knocked the soldier across the face and out cold. The poet then ducked as the leader tried to slice his head off. He jumped up and kicked the leader in the face, knocking him unconscious.

Eve twirled her chobos around her head skillfully, knocking the first man to approach her in the chin. He fell to the ground with a shattered jaw. Another soldier ran at her, club extended, but she threw her weapon at him and the chain wrapped around his neck. She ran forward, grabbed both handles of the chobos, and squeezed them so hard that the man passed out from lack of breath.

Virgil ran over to join Eve and they looked at the remaining men while holding Callie behind their bodies protectively.

"Up and over?" asked Virgil, looking to Eve.

"You sure you can handle it?" she replied, grasping Callie's hand even tighter.

"Hey, I have _some experience," he retorted as he took Eve's hand into his. "On three. One… two…"_

"YAAH!" shouted Eve, pulling Virgil and Callie with her as she vaulted into the air. They flew through the air and landed just behind the men. "Go! Go!"

The trio ran out the door and closed it behind them just as the soldiers were about to cross the threshold. Virgil held the door shut while Eve set the lock, taking the key and throwing it into the fire.

Virgil dropped his head against the door and gasped for breath. "How do you people live like this?" he asked Eve, putting a hand over his heart.

Eve ran to the window. "Those were Satri's men. She wants Callie. We have to get out of here before she sends reinforcements."

The man looked to Callie, who was clinging to her stuffed bear. "Alright. Come on, Callie," he said to the small girl, taking her into his arms.

"Excuse me," said the tavern keeper, stepping forward. "I have a back door you can use if you want to. It leads straight into the woods where you'll be safe."

Eve smiled at the elderly man. "Thank you." She began to walk towards the back of the tavern with Virgil and Callie right behind her.

"Good luck to you. And you," said the tavern keeper, stopping Virgil, "keep your wife and daughter safe."

Virgil was about to protest about the comment about them being his wife and daughter, but knew he didn't have that much time to spare. "I will, sir."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xena jerked her chair closer to Gabrielle's. "Almost there," said the warrior, having already chewed through her gag. "I'll untie yours first." She gave one last jerk and their hands met.

The warrior immediately began to work with Gabrielle's ropes, concentrating on feeling her way through the knot.

"You know, when we get outta this, I'm going to smack you _so_ hard you'll be in pain for days," warned the bard impatiently.

"Since when is this all _my_ fault?" protested Xena as she pulled the last string on Gabrielle's ropes, setting the bard's hands free.

"Since it wasn't mine!" retorted Gabrielle as she began to untie Xena's ropes. "I have the right mind to leave you tied up like this."

Xena grinned devilishly and said, "_Please_ do."

The bard slapped Xena on the arm and sighed with frustration.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil stopped running for a second and looked over his shoulder at Callie, who was now riding on his back. "You okay?"

The girl nodded and buried her face in the back of his neck.

"Eve! We have to find a place to rest!" he called to the woman, who was just a few paces in front of him.

"I know. We have to find a—a cave or—or something secluded like that. If Satri's men should attack us at night…"

Virgil looked around and spotted a particularly overgrown patch of forest. "Hey, what about over here?" he called, moving forward through the brush.

Eve turned and narrowed her eyes at the spot Virgil was heading towards. "Be careful…"

The man timidly pushed back a fern leaf, revealing a small cave with an opening just big enough for a person to fit into it.

A deep growl erupted from the opening.

"_OH MY GODS!" Virgil jumped back as a wolverine came charging out of the hole. The man tried to run but his foot got caught in a vine. The beast came closer, saliva spraying from its open mouth and gleaming canines. Its bloodshot-red eyes hungrily stared at Virgil and Callie._

Just before it sank its teeth into Virgil's arm…

WHAM! The wolverine went flying into a tree and was knocked unconscious.

Virgil removed his arm from his eyes.

Eve looked down at her bloody arm with an almost scared look on her face. She then turned it over to reveal a slashed-wide-open palm. Her arms began to shake, her legs failed her and she sank to the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xena unsheathed her sword as they exited the house. "Alright, Satri, come out! Come out now, before I have to get ugly!" Beside her, Gabrielle shifted her weight nervously, twirling her sais in her hands.

The two women looked up into the trees as an evil laughing reached their ears. Satri swung onto a large branch so she was visible to the duo. "Aww, look at that. The great Warrior Princess and the Battling Bard helpless on their own turf… pitiful." She flipped out of the tree and onto the ground. "I can't believe my mother expected to learn something from you."

Xena's eyes widened in horror as memories of Satrina came flooding back to her mind. Of course! Why hadn't she seen the resemblance sooner? Satri--Satrina? "Damn it."

Satri cocked her head and smiled crazily, a very 'Callisto' smile. "My men are searching the woods for your child and _her _child as we speak. But ya know, even if you kill me, they'll kill your daughter before you can get to her."

Gabrielle glared at the woman. "You bitch. Using an innocent child as a pawn just to get a few dinars."

"Livia was going to take her away! My life depends on the fee she pays me to take care of that child! She has endless currency, and I want it!" screamed Satri.

Xena took her chakram off its hook. "You'll have to live to get it, remember?"

Satri unsheathed her own sword and ran at Xena. "AAAH!"

The warrior stood her ground until Satri was about to ram her. She then thrust out her sword and Satri halted her onslaught.

Blood trickled down her chin.

"You've gotten lost in your hatred and greed, Satri. Your mother was the same. There's no way to be a formidable enemy when you don't plan, you don't think. You only act, and act out of cold blood and anger. That's why you're dying right now," whispered Xena, pushing the woman off her sword.

Satri fell to her knees and smiled up at Xena. "Well, I guess you're not the same as Livia, are you? She lost the ability to kill in cold blood, but apparently you haven't." She gasped and collapsed in a pool of her own blood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil pressed a wet cloth to Eve's wound and worriedly stroked the woman's forehead. Callie busily prepared some bandages and ointments to prevent infection.

"Ugghh…" Eve moaned and turned her head to one side, opening her eyes. "What—what happened?" she asked, looking to Virgil.

"I was going to ask you that. I think you knocked away the wolverine with your arm and it tore up your hand. Then you fainted and we got you in here after tying up the beast," replied Virgil, accepting the bandages from Callie.

The woman put a hand to her pounding head. "It was the—the sight of my blood. Just looking at it brought back all those memories… memories of killing person after person in cold blood. I just couldn't handle it… they give me nightmares, Virgil."

Virgil brushed her forehead affectionately with his fingertips. "We'll help you with that."

Eve looked around the neat little cavern. At the back was a hot spring; there was a skylight in the ceiling covered with bushes so that you could have a fire and the smoke wouldn't take up the entire room, yet still preventing the rain. The entrance was a small tunnel that you had to crawl through for at least ten feet. "Now I see why the wolverine wanted this so bad."

Virgil chuckled and finished wrapping her arm. "Yes, but from what I've heard, caves around these parts get really cold at night."

"It's the soil, it doesn't contain heat as well as it does the cold. Very loose."

"Did you bring any extra blankets?" he asked, putting away the medical supplies.

"No."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xena bent down and ran her hands through some sand. "They went by here. The tracks are about five hours old."

"Five hours?! Xe, don't you think we should rest awhile?" begged Gabrielle. "Please? Pretty, pretty please?"

The warrior sighed and nodded. "Okay. It'll be getting cold soon, anyway."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve lathered her hands and ran them along her arms, letting the sweet-smelling soap clean her skin, leaving behind a smooth, sensual fragrance. She leaned back against the rim of the spring, letting her head rest there while she closed her eyes, enjoying the ecstasy of the feeling.

"Mind if I join you?" asked a deep voice.

The woman looked up into the face of Virgil, her gaze never traveling farther down than the bottom of his chin. "Okay." She dropped her head and closed her eyes once more.

He slipped into the water across the spring from her and flinched at the heat. It took a few moments for his body to adjust to the temperature, but soon he was reveling in the calming water. As they both sat there in the pool, Virgil's mind drifted to Eve. He imagined her wonderfully fit body, her nice, coppery tan from traveling… he mentally smacked himself. The man opened one eye and looked at her relaxed face before closing it again. _I wonder what she's thinking about… _he thought.

_Oh gods, that body!_ thought Eve, inwardly squealing with delight as she imagined Virgil's luscious body. She opened one eye, stealing a glance at him before closing it again.

Callie giggled at the two adults. "And they think _I_ have an active imagination!" she said to herself as she unfolded her bedroll.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gabrielle finished cleaning the frying pan and set it down, sighing deeply. "Xena, if you don't let me have that vacation in Lesbos after this I'm going to…" she warned, shaking a fork at her warrior.

"I'm really sorry about all this, but ya know the saying… 'Duty calls'."

"Actually, I've never heard that before."

"Whatever you say, Love," replied Xena with a chuckle, kissing her bard lightly on the lips. "I personally guarantee you three-hour foot rubs every day for a month after this. And a vacation to Lesbos."

"Can we see Sappho?"

"We can see Sappho," confirmed the warrior, pulling Gabrielle close and nuzzling her neck. "I spoil you rotten, you know that?"

Gabrielle chuckled and captured Xena's lips with her own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve woke up from her nap in the pool and caught Virgil looking at her. She smiled as he quickly glanced away. The man turned a deep shade of red as Eve moved closer to him. The young woman leaned forward, her faces just inches from his and…

TBC… 


	4. Hurts like Fire

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters here that appear in the hit syndicated TV Show, Xena: Warrior Princess. I do, however, own any and all original characters. 

Summary: Eve has a secret, and it will cost her everything to keep it safe.

My Callisto 

By

Nikki Brin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve leaned forward; her perfectly shaped lips just inches from Virgil's, and brought her hand up to stoke his tanned face. The tall man ran his fingers through her unruly hair as they leaned forward. Just before their lips made contact--

"Mom! Mom, it's raining through the skylight!"

Eve inwardly cursed and pulled back from Virgil, looking to her daughter with an exasperated expression playing across her face. "That's impossible, honey, the skylight is covered."

"Not anymore…" Callie pointed to the aperture in the ceiling, where water was currently leaking through. Eve wrapped a towel around her body and climbed out of the water with Virgil right behind her.

As they walked toward the middle of the cavern, Virgil couldn't help but stare at Eve's towel-covered backside. _Oh, nice! _He thought, and then inwardly smacked himself hard across the face. _Okay, think cold river… think freezing cold bath in freezing cold river…_

Eve wandered under the hole and saw that the leaves that had been covering it were now mysteriously gone. "Well… just let me get dressed and we'll fix that, okay?"

The woman couldn't help but grin as Virgil unsuccessfully stifled a groan at the proposition that she get dressed…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gabrielle chuckled as she and Xena lay in their bedroll.

"And what is so funny, my bard?" queried the warrior, running her callused hands up and down Gabrielle's arms by sheer habit.

"I was just thinking."

"About what?"

The bard turned around so she was facing her warrior. "After all we've been through, all—all the people we've met and the places we've been… I still can't get over how perfect my life is. We've suffered through deaths, births—" she had to chuckle again at that one "—and catching up on our beauty sleep for twenty-five years, but if I could go back and change anything I wouldn't. Do you feel the same way?"

Xena grinned and kissed Gabrielle lightly. "Of course I do. There's no other place I'd rather be than here, lying in a bedroll while it's as cold as a Scandinavian winter outside, talking with my annoying little blonde lover."

Gabrielle laughed and smacked Xena on the arm. "You better hope for your sex life that you're being sarcastic."

"Oh, I _am."_

"Brat."

"Baby."

"Sneak."

"Shrimp."

"Monster."

Xena stopped and gave her lover a devilish smile. "A monster am I? Well, let's just see how bad this monster can be…" She dove under the covers and began tickling Gabrielle's feet without a hint of mercy.

"AAAH!! Save me from the monster!" cried the bard, twisting around in the bedroll.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve and Virgil walked around the little hole three times, trying to figure out who had mysteriously stomped the bushed. "Maybe an attack deer or something like that got at it," suggested Virgil with a goofy smile.

"Har-har… actually, looks more like the shrubs got stepped on, see? Here and here are the tracks," said Eve, pointing to the squished plants. She bent over, putting her hands on her knees, to inspect the tracks, seeing that they were some kind of donkey or maybe horse hoof-prints.

Virgil came over to stand next to her, after stealing yet another good look at her butt as she bent over, and nodded in agreement. "Yeah… I guess." He then bent down so his head was level with hers. "But ya know, wolverines _do pay high prices for deer sentries."_

Eve chuckled, shaking her head. "You are such a dreamer."

But as she thought about it, Eve realized that that was something she lov—_liked about Virgil; he was always willing to accept the unexplainable. Verus had been something of a dreamer, but he would never find pictures in the stars or try to explain the unexplainable. Ares… Ares had never shown any signs of even thinking about things that were unexplained. Yet, Virgil had the mind of a child and she really enjoyed that part of him._

The sensation of Virgil's hand brushing against hers brought Eve out of her reverie. "I'm glad you're a dreamer, Virg'."

Virgil smiled, reveling in the closeness of her body. He studied her posture, the way her feet were set, her shoulders up, her head held high. She never slouched or hung her head. Her composure showed that she was a strong, independent woman. That was one thing he lov—_liked _about her. She wasn't afraid to be a woman, and a strong one at that. He had never seen her back down at the cold glare of a man, or even waste the breath to argue with a man for that matter.

Their unconscious thoughts drove them to look at each other, which was a feeling that they complied to whole-heartedly.

Virgil was the first to move, brushing his lips ever so slightly with hers. He then drew her closer in a more aggressive kiss, running his hands through her dark hair.

Eve pulled away, looking into his eyes and the depth of his soul. There she saw a gentleness, a caring that she had never seen before. Verus had showed signs of that soft, caring feeling, but for some reason Virgil's eyes seemed to glow with it. But there was also a hint of uncertainty, as if even _he_ didn't know what he was doing or getting himself into. That look of fear increased her doubts that this man loved her the same way that she loved him, kiss or no kiss. "Virgil… are you sure this is right? I mean, after all…"

Virgil put a finger to her lips, leaning down so his towering height didn't put so much of a barrier between them. "Eve, over the last few days I've seen a side of you that I'm guessing you've never shown to many. I feel like I can say anything to you, because you understand. A part of me is unsure, I admit that, but isn't that little uncertainty in every relationship, no matter what the circumstances?" He paused and licked his lips nervously. "What I'm trying to say is… I--"

"Aw… how sweet, two kiddies in love," barked a rough voice.

Eve whirled around and Virgil stood up straight. A group of about ten soldiers had surrounded them, each with that wretched picture of Medusa engraved into their armor.

"You people are getting very annoying," muttered Virgil, reaching behind his back and picking up a large branch.

"Satri wants that child, and what Satri wants, Satri gets," said the man who was seemingly the new leader. "Surrender the child and no harm will come to you." He drew his sword, waving it before Eve and Virgil threateningly.

"Oh, don't you know that that line _never_ works?!" groaned Eve before kicking the legs out from under the man nearest to her. "And you better stay down!" The woman spun around and punched another man across the face, knocking him to the ground. Turning, she gasped as a fist abruptly came in contact with her cheek, sending her flying back into a tree with a sickening crack.

"Eve!" cried Virgil, looking over his shoulder at the ailing woman as he kicked the leader in the groin. The large soldier moaned and fell to the ground.

Eve was about to reply that she was alright, but an arrow came out of nowhere and found the flesh just above her left breast, piercing her lung. She looked down at the wound in shock, almost not believing this was real. A gasp slipped from her lips as frothy bubbles of red blood spilled down her chin and neck, and onto her hand. Her legs once again failed her, and she collapsed.

Watching her lie there, mortally injured, Virgil felt a fury he had never felt before. He had felt something like it when his father had been killed, but this was different. It was a rage for losing the one he loved with all his heart, the one who had captured his soul with her own. He roared and snapped another branch from a nearby oak tree, making sure the edge was as sharp and as pointed as possible. The tall man glared at the soldiers around him before jamming the pointed branch into the man closest to him, which happened to be the archer who hit Eve.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xena shivered as she felt Gabrielle's cold feet snake onto her leg. "Damn it, Gab, that's cold!" she said, pushing the feet away.

Gabrielle moaned in her sleep and wrapped her arms around Xena's neck, pulling the warrior close, and stuck her feet back onto her leg.

The warrior flinched at Gabrielle's cold hands and feet. "You do that just to annoy me, don't you?" she accused with a smile.

The bard nodded and shifted even closer to her warrior, cringing as the chilly leathers provided her with little warmth. _At least the fire's burning_, she thought.

SPLASH!

Xena quickly looked up into the now-wet coals of their fire. "Now you've gone and put out our fire? Tsk, I've had about enough of you guys," said the warrior, jumping from the bedroll and kicking a man in the kidney.

He groaned, peed in his pants, and fell to the ground unconscious.

"Well, that's one way to do it," mused Gabrielle before ducking a scythe blade. She drew her sais, twirling them menacingly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"YAAARGH!" Virgil stabbed another soldier in the chest, hands shaking with rage. "Tell Cesarius I said 'hello'." He whirled around and caught another man in the shoulder, pulling his arms up and ripping the man's bone and flesh until his stick came out on top of the man's shoulder.

The last soldier twirled his sword, and then gasped as Virgil's branch embedded its sharp point into his chest. He was dead moments after he hit the ground, falling right into a pool of his and his comrades' blood.

Virgil turned and ran over to Eve, taking her into his arms and cradling her gently. "Oh god… oh god… Eve no!" he sobbed, pulling her to his chest. The man could feel her warm blood leaking into his own shirt and onto his skin.

Eve's eyes were closed, her mouth, chin, and neck covered in blood; her breathing getting more ragged and shallow by the second. "Virgil…" She looked up at him through hooded blue eyes, which were rapidly growing mistier.

"Yes, Eve?"

She smiled weakly and winced as he shifted her in his arms.

"Sorry," he said quickly, brushing her wild locks of hair out of her blood. "You're gonna fine, just fine… we'll get you to the Athens hospice and--"

"Virgil… look after Callie for me? She loves you," Eve interrupted, fighting the blackness that had begun to consume her. "She needs you." Her breathing was ragged, her entire body seizing from the immense pain, though her mind could not register it.

"_I need _you_, I need you," replied the man, kissing her cold forehead. His voice broke, tears streaming down his face and onto Eve's. "You're gonna be alright, Evie. We'll just stop the bleeding and—"_

"Promise me you'll take care of her?" interrupted Eve weakly. She reached up and stoked his face gently. The darkness was moments from taking her into the Other Realm.

"Of course I will, Eve."

"I'm… so… c-c-old," whispered the woman.

Virgil couldn't help it as tears streamed down his face. Her hand continued to stroke his face, coming to rest on his cheek. "Don't go..."

"And Virgil… I lov-" She was unable to finished her sentence before her hand fell away from his cheek, landing on the ground with a dull thud.

Virgil's stomach did a back flip and he gagged, holding back the contents of his stomach as they tried to head northward.

He saw visions of Eve flashing before his eyes, ending with a lingering memory of her smile. He looked down at her, enveloped in his arms, and his mind began to scream words that had no meaning. "EVE!" cried Virgil at the top of his lungs, following by an agonized scream, his very soul wailing in despair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xena halted her battle for one split second as Virgil's distressed cry reached her ears. Her mind panicked, she lost all interest in this fight and killed the man she had currently been battling with a quick swipe of her sword. She looked to Gabrielle, who was in the same state of utter and complete fear.

"Oh Eli no," said the warrior, sending a silent prayer to her long-dead friend. She finished off the last of the men with her chakram and, after grabbing it out of the air, she and Gabrielle took off towards the sound of Virgil's voice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn't take them ten minutes to get where Virgil was, their feet seemingly swallowing the ground whole. Xena didn't doubt that divine intervention caused them to get there in five minutes instead of five hours. They stopped a couple feet away from Virgil and Eve, eyes widening in horror.

Virgil was hunched over Eve's lifeless body, his own body covered in blood from trying in vain to stop the bleeding even after she had died. His head rested heavily on her chest, caked in blood. He sobbed uncontrollably and didn't even acknowledge the two approaching women. Then, rain began to pour down on them, only succeeding in making the situation even more bleak and miserable.

Xena knelt next to her daughter's limp form, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. "Virgil…" she began, feeling her hands start to shake.

"She's gone. I should've protected her, but she's gone. It's all my fault," sobbed the grieving man, his body shaking. He held up the bloody arrow, which he had carefully removed from Eve's chest just after she died.

"Virgil?" squeaked a tiny voice.

The man turned around to find Callie standing there with a blanket wrapped around her small shoulders. "Callie…"

"What happened to Mommy, Virgil?" asked the small child.

Virgil looked at Eve's pale face and swallowed another sob. "She's gone to be with your father again, Callie."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Light shone through the aperture in the ceiling, spilling onto Eve's pale face. Newly-bloomed flowers were placed all around her makeshift coffin, which had been positioned inside the cavern where they had been camping.

Four different items had been put around the coffin in honor of Eve's memory. One was a fish-like symbol that Gabrielle had thought appropriate since she was The Messenger of Eli.

The second was a small green cap made of worn-out cloth, which Xena had placed there after saving it for twenty-six years. The flowery pattern was only just visible from all the years of wear and tear, but Xena had said solemnly, "I kept it to hold on to the memories of her as a child… now it'll just give me memories of her lying in a pool of her own blood. She should keep it with her to remember herself," before exiting the cave with tears shimmering in her blue eyes.

Virgil had placed a single branch of jasmine in her hands, noting that Eve always smelled of the sweet flower. Even after death.

Callie, in her youthful innocence, had wrapped a bandage around Eve's arm. It was marked with little drawings of getting well, and tacked onto it was Virgil's poem with the words changed.

'Roses are red

Blood is too,

You loved me, Mommy

And I love you, too.'

Virgil paced in front of this shrine, his mind torn between staying with Callie and just leaving to have some time to himself. He stopped and looked into Eve's cold, dead face. "I promised you, and I'm gonna keep that promise, but I just wish _we could've raised her… the both of us. It'll take us a long time to find our way again… even longer to find a sense of peace. The only thing good about this is that Satri went to Tartarus, I know it. If she didn't, then I'll send her there myself." Taking a deep breath, he shut the lid of the coffin that contained his one true love, and with it went a large part of his soul._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xena dropped her sword from her right hand; her chakram from her left. She then removed her armor and placed it on the ground with her weapons. Her sky-blue eyes turned to the ocean, getting lost in the great pounding of the waves and the blue-green water. As she stared into the distance, she half-consciously contemplated whether or not to hurl herself off a cliff, into that ocean, and onto those razor-sharp rocks. Or maybe throw herself on her own sword. She looked down at the long, sharp blade that had taken so many lives… maybe she could—

"Xena!" Gabrielle interrupted the warrior's reminiscing. 

"What?" asked Xena quietly, sitting down in the sand. She fingered the grains absent-mindedly.

"Don't you dare," warned the bard, turning the warrior's head to face her. "Xena, how could you even think about it?"

"What're you talking about?"

"Your sword. Your chakram. That reddish tint in your eye. Xena, I know you better than you'd ever know."

Xena lowered her eyes and slapped the sand. "I failed, Gabrielle… twice, in fact. Solan died before I really got to know him… Eve was even worse. I was this close to raising her the right way," she held up her thumb and forefinger with a little space in-between, "but she ended up crazier than Callisto and more bloodthirsty than me. Then, when I really get to know her, she gets killed as well."

Gabrielle rested her head against Xena's shoulder. "Xena… it's not your fault. The universe works in ways that we can never understand. You were trying to get to her in time, Xena, but we missed her by a few minutes… and in a way, it's my fault."

The warrior shook her head. "It's not your fault. It's nobody's fault… listen, I'm gonna go… make sure Callie's okay…" She sniffed as she stood and brushed herself off.

Gabrielle watched her warrior walk off sadly. She had never seen her lover like this.

Xena's eyes were on her toes, her shoulders slouched, head down. She kicked the ground, sending sand everywhere, hands wringing each other out nervously.

The great Warrior Princess had been stripped of her pride, her little bundle of joy… who hadn't been so little anymore. Gabrielle sighed and looked at Xena's armor and weapons. They were getting covered by the sand, and she made no move to prevent it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Callie sighed in her sleep as Virgil entered quietly. The man hesitated in the doorway, afraid he would start crying again… Callie just looked so much like Eve, even with the minute details that belonged to her father such as her hair and a few lone freckles. But her eyes were all Eve… those piercing blue eyes, which seemed to run in the women of Xena's line. There was just something about those eyes that caught everyone's attention… that bright blue that could express every emotion possible, from hate to love, from bloodlust to fear. It was hard for him to look into eyes like that without crying.

Eve had been dead for three days now. Aphrodite herself, out of sympathy for Xena and Gabrielle, had come and placed a spell over Eve's body so that it would remain as it was for an eternity and not decay.

He stroked Callie's face and silently said a prayer to Eli. Just the night before he had heard a bitter argument between Xena and Gabrielle. The warrior had been arguing out of fear and anger, while Gabrielle had taken that anger and changed it into hope.

They were worried what would become of Callie.

Would she turn and begin on the road of vengeance? What if Ares got at her? Should she be taken to a grieving oracle? What would happen if she did turn evil? Would the world see another bloodthirsty warrioress of the bloodline of Xena and Livia?

Xena had been arguing that they get out of Greece as quickly as possible and go to Egypt, where Ares had no powers and couldn't harm the girl. Gabrielle had countered the fact that if they did that then it would be just as bad as giving her away. The argument had lasted until Xena broke down and started crying once again, saying that Gabrielle was right but she didn't want anything happening to her one and only grandchild.

At that point, Virgil made a decision to go and rebuild his father's tavern and raise Callie there, but there were always going to be those issues of evil that would linger in his mind.

Climbing into his cot, he took a deep breath and began to pray again.__

_Eve_, _I know you can hear my thoughts_, _so I just wanted to tell you that I'_ll take care of your daughter_. __I promise I'll teach her right from wrong and show her The Way of Love. We'll miss you, but maybe Eli has done this for a reason… __whatever it is, I trust his judgment. I just wish this wasn't a decision he had made._

With that he rolled over and blew out the candle, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pallet.

SOME TIME LATER 

Virgil cursed as the sunlight hit his eyes and brought him out of his deep sleep. Raising his head, he looked around the empty room. He once again reminded himself to do something about it's dreary, miserable look. His bleak bedroom had little furniture, just a bed and a bureau, with nothing on the walls and a window that was only about two-by-two feet. The floor was hard limestone, which had grayed from its usual white due to his constant pacing. The only thing of decoration he had had was a scroll on the ceiling that Gabrielle had wrote, called "My Callisto—Chapter 1". He had read it over and over and over until he couldn't stand it anymore, then tacked it to the ceiling.

WHAM! Suddenly the door burst open and Callie came running in, hurling herself onto the bed and right next to Virgil. She bounced on the pallet a few times before catching her breath and piping happily, "Hey Daddy!"

Virgil groaned and rubbed the spot on his chest where her elbow had collided with a rib. "Good morning to you, too," said the man, kissing her forehead adoringly. "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for school?"

"But I don't wanna go to school! I have to sit next to Johnny and I don't like him."

Virgil chuckled, ruffling her hair. "Get to school before I have to get up," he warned, shaking a finger at her.

Callie sighed deeply, sulking as she left the room. She didn't dare disobey her father, but that didn't mean she had to _like_ doing what he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil watched as one of Callie's age-mates came bounding out of the schoolhouse and into her mother's open arms. His eyes wandered to the man waiting with a smile on his face just outside the schoolyard fence. A sad sigh escaped his lips as mother and daughter joined the man, laughing and talking happily as the walked back to their house as a family. A whole family.

"Daddy!" Callie came running out of the school with a piece of papyrus clenched in her hand.

"Hey sweetheart!" said Virgil, scooping her up into his arms. "Did you have fun at school today?" He kissed her cheek.

"Yep! I even made this picture!" exclaimed the girl, showing him the painting on the papyrus. It had taken her all of center-time to make it and she was proud of her work.

Virgil's smile slowly faded as he looked at the picture.

There were three people, two tall figures and a smaller one holding hands with them. The tallest person wore a leather vest and trousers, Virgil's usual attire. The shorter one wore a lime-green top with pants and sandals of the same color, what Eve had been wearing upon her death. The smallest one was wearing a little blue dress, which Callie happened to be wearing that day.

"See, Daddy? Mrs. Scropolis said to paint the dream you had last night. I dreamed that Mommy, you, and me were a all a big, happy family."

Virgil wiped his eyes with his free hand. He wouldn't—no, _couldn't_ let her see him cry… "That's great, Callie. Listen, why don't you run on home and finish your chores for today so we can play later, alright?"

"Okay, Daddy!" said the girl as she skipped off towards their house. She wasn't one to object to the whole 'work now, play later' theme.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another tear slipped down Virgil's face as he sat with a scroll entitled "My Callisto—Chapter 4" clenched in his fingers. Gabrielle had never finished it, claiming that Virgil should put whatever he wanted at the end. He had never _once thought of finishing it. He didn't want to believe that it was actually over. Eve had been dead for two years now, and he still mourned her to the point of making himself sick at times. Virgil abruptly lifted his head at the sound of approaching footsteps. His eyes traveled up a pair of boots, a skirt, a top, then to a beautiful face and bright blue eyes._

"Xena… hi. What're you doing here?" asked the man, studying Xena's new clothes out of the corner of his blue-green eyes.

She wore a black leather top and skirt that showed a sliver of her abdomen. Across her chest was a silver breastplate with a very intricate design, one he had seen a passing Amazon wearing before, and all around her upper body silver-gold armor swirled to deflect blows to vital organs. Her skirt was made of strips of leather like her old one, only thicker and without armor. Her knee-high traveling boots were the same color as her skirt and top, midnight black with iron soles to make kicks more lethal and bone-crushing. Topping it all off was her newly-forged samurai sword from Japan on one side of her body and her new chakram on the other. Her new sword's sheath was also made of black leather, with a silver design from Chinese text that meant 'power' on it. Her old leathers and armor had been locked away in a safe for years now, and she planned to keep it that way.

"Gabrielle and I stopped by to see how you were doing. Callie said you hadn't come home after picking her up from school… I thought I'd find you here."

'Here' was next to Eve's grave.

Virgil looked up at her with his eyes, keeping his head bowed low. "Nice armor. Amazon?"

The warrior nodded and sat next to him. "Virg', what's bothering you?" she asked, running her hand along Eve's gravestone lovingly. It was a simple stone arch with the words 'Rest In Peace' carved into it. Under that was a picture of a dragon, her Chinese Zodiac sign.

Xena had told Virgil that her daughter could be buried wherever he wanted, just so long as they had quick access to her grave.

He had buried her in his backyard.

"Callie made this picture of the three of us as a family… said she dreamed about it," said the man with a deep sigh. He pulled on a strand of grass idly.

The warrior bit the side of her mouth. "It's been two years, Virgil. You can't go on like this… it's not good for you," she said softly.

"You're right, I can't go on like this. But every time I say that I can't go on, I see Callie's smile and it fuels me for a little while longer. What if someday it's not enough?" said Virgil throwing down the scroll. "I've been thinking, and I want you to take Callie back to the Amazons with you. I'm sure that she'll be welcome, being the queen's granddaughter."

Xena shook her head. "What's wrong with you? I've never seen you like this."

"Yeah, well you sure got outta here fast after she died, so how could you have seen me in mourning? I'm surprised you even bothered to send me scrolls," muttered Virgil bitterly.

"Hey, don't take your anger at the world out on me! Eve is _gone_! No amount of sulking is going to change that! Callie needs a father, but if you can't give that to her then maybe I _will_ take her to the Amazons!" She stood and began to walk away, but stopped and called over her shoulder, "If you really want to do something about her death, why don't you talk to Eli?" She continued to walk away.

"You know Callie asked questions that I couldn't answer! 'Why do people die?' 'How come Eli takes life but gives it as well?' and I can't answer those questions, Xena! She needs more family than _just_ me and _you ran away! I could've run but I didn't! So don't you tell me that I'm not a father to her!" shouted Virgil at her back, jumping to his feet angrily._

Xena stopped for a moment, then shrugged off his comment and continued into the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Eli… tell me what to do. You or your God have taken my one and only love away from me… yet you expect me to keep following your Way. I really don't understand this test. What is it that you want me to do?" whispered Virgil. He closed his eyes, bowing his head respectfully.

After a few minutes of receiving no response, the tall man got up and left the temple with his hands jammed into his pockets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve's eyes flew open with a gasp as she bolted upright into a sitting position. She looked around at her strangely familiar surroundings. "Where am I?" she thought aloud. Looking down at her hands she noticed… she barely had hands. They were translucent, but she could just make out the outline of herself.

Standing up, the woman finally recognized where she was. "Wait a minute… I've seen that house before!" she exclaimed, eyeing the tavern before her. Sitting on the roof were makeshift sais and a primitive chakram. That would mean…

JOXER'S TAVERN?!

A woman stepped out from inside a house dressed in Amazon leathers, interrupting Eve's thoughts. Eve's mouth dropped to her see-through feet. 

The short blonde woman was wearing a white woolen shirt to block out the cold, made of the of the softest wool from Amazon lands. Her pants were made of a stretchy black material that hung down past her toes, in serious need of some adjusting to the blonde woman's height.

"Gabrielle?"

The bard stretched her arms above her head with a relaxed yawn, either ignoring Eve or not aware of her presence.

"Gabrielle? Hey?!" called the spirit, moving forward.

After stretching out almost every muscle in her body, Gabrielle turned and went inside the house, closing the door behind her. Eve followed and tried to open the door, but her hand went right through the knob. She shivered.

"Okay, now that's just plain freaky," said the ghost to herself. Taking advantage of the situation, she held her breath and jumped through the door, grunting as soon as she landed inside… flat on her face. "Well, that didn't work out _quite the way I wanted it," she mused, brushing herself off._

"I'm telling you, Gabrielle, chain mail will just get me hounded by kinky ogres and I know that makes the green-eyed monster come out of hiding!"

"Xena, I don't care if your armor already 'protects your vital organs', I want it to protect the rest of you, too!" protested Gabrielle as she followed her consort into the living room. "I would like reports that say you're coming home in one piece, not all your vital organs stuffed in a crate!"

Eve amusedly walked right behind them. "Use the frying pan, Gab… you know you want to," she whispered with a chuckle.

"Do we have to discuss this _now_?"

"Yes, now! I know you couldn't have missed the reports of Thracian soldiers trying to march onto our southern borders! That means you'll have to take troops! That means fighting! That means my Solstice present will be 'Xena's Organs in a Box!'"

Eve had to laugh at that statement. "She's got a point, Mom."

"Gab, can we just drop it until we get back to Amazon lands?" asked Xena, lowering her voice as if expecting Callie to jump out at any moment. "The queen and consort shouldn't be discussing this on their _vacation_."

_How long have I been gone?_ thought Eve curiously.

"Give me one good reason to drop it," countered the bard, hands on hips.

"Hormones," replied Xena with a little smile.

Gabrielle threw her arms up into the air. "You win! Fine! Be a fancy smancy warrior and get yourself chopped into little pieces! I'm going to—to… to go make breakfast!" boomed the bard as she stormed off into the kitchen.

Xena simply flopped on the couch with a wide grin, happy with her victory.

Eve shook her head. "You two haven't changed a bit, have you?" She eyed her mother's new choice of clothing intently. "Hmm… the clothes are different but other than that—"

The spirit stopped talking to herself as Callie came barreling into the living room, screeching to a halt just in front of Xena. "Gammy Xe, Gammy Xe, look!"

Xena looked up. "What?"

"I made you and Grammy Gabby a picture! See?" squealed the child excitedly, showing Xena the picture she had made. The picture showed Xena holding her chakram, Gabrielle with her sais… and about five dead guys all around them.

The warrior chuckled as she accepted the scroll. "Why thank you, Callie. I'm sure the Amazons back in Macedonia will love to see it."

Callie grinned proudly.

"Your Grammy Gabby is making breakfast. Why don't you go help her?" suggested Xena, still unable to contain her smile.

"Sure Gammy Xe!" piped the girl, scuttling off to the kitchen. When her two grandmothers came to visit it was absolutely her favorite time of the year, especially when they brought other Amazons with them.

Xena shook her head, not quite able to stop herself from chuckling even after Callie had gone.

Eve tried to wipe her face, wincing as her hand went through her own body. She chuckled as she unsuccessfully tried to brush away her happy tears again. Callie was so beautiful. "I really hope this doesn't last long."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil fingered the single lock of Eve's hair lovingly. It was the only thing of hers he had to remember her by, besides some clothes… and Callie. Sometimes, if he looked at the sun rising through the window, he was able to imagine her standing there, smiling down at him. He looked up and grinned as he visualized her standing there, hands on hips, gazing at him with the sun silhouetting her outlined form and...

Wait a minute.

"Eve?"

Whatever was in the window gasped, it's translucent form stepping back a few feet and disappearing with a shimmer. "Virgil? You can see me?"

Virgil was at a loss for words as his mouth moved but no sound came out.

"Oh my gods, Virgil… can you really see me?" She moved from the window, over to the bed where he was sitting.

"Well… I could just a minute ago but I can't now... Eve, is that really you or just my imagination playing games with me?" he asked, looking up at the ceiling then back to the window. He felt a gentle breeze across his cheek.

"Virgil, I'm just as confused as you are. This morning I woke up lying on top of my grave," said Eve, wishing so much to touch him as her hand passed through his face.

"I'm going insane."

"No you're not, Virgil. I'm really here… well, sort of."

Virgil threw off the covers and put on his vest. "Do you have any way to show me that you're really here?" _I think I need to get help._ "I've lost it. Your mother was right, I've _finally lost it."_

"Close the window."

The man did as he was 'told', shutting the window as tightly as he could.

Eve brushed her hands through the raggedy drapes, making them flow as if being ruffled by the wind. She looked over at Virgil, whose mouth was hanging wide open. "You better close that, Virg', you're collecting dust."

At this point Virgil was a _little_ more convinced. "Alright… but I'm not gonna really believe you're there until you show me something else to prove you're here and I'm not just talking to… the wind, so to speak."

Eve shook her head. "Virgil, since you refuse to believe what your mind is telling you, I'll find another way… but you're not going crazy, I promise. I'm leaving now," she informed him, going through the outside wall and into the Town Square.

*****

Gabrielle looked up as Virgil came into the living room. "Good morning sunshine. I, uh, heard you and Xena had a little 'heart-to-heart' talk yesterday."

Virgil shrugged, sitting on the couch next to her. "I didn't really mean what I said. Callie's picture just had me thinking about what would've happened if Eve hadn't died. I guess it made me mad that no one rescued her from the Land of the Dead like I had heard in all the stories… but then I realized that maybe it was her time… maybe it wasn't. Either way, the Other Realm has shifted so that it's harder to retrieve souls from it, or at least that's what I've heard."

Gabrielle chuckled, putting her arm around his shoulders. "You're right, the Other Realm has changed… Xena and I experienced it first hand. You see, the Olympians had Tartarus and the Elysian Fields, which they ruled unjustly most of the time. But as the Twilight neared, humans no longer needed the many gods and the way of the One God was embraced by many. He has two realms: Heaven and Hell."

Virgil, suddenly understanding, replied, "Yeah… and I should trust His judgment."

The bard kissed his cheek, smiling comfortingly. "You'll find another love, Virgil. And who knows… maybe Eve will find a way to come back to you." She stood and left the room, leaving Virgil to his thoughts.

"She _did_ come back to me…" he whispered to the silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve floated above a fruit cart, elbow on knee and chin in palm, thinking. Her eyes wandered from person to person curiously. Lots of things had changed since she had last seen this town.

For one, the tavern had been rebuilt into a large house that Virgil and Callie lived in. A few Amazons wandered the streets, casually conversing with the villagers. This was something that had never been allowed before. The villagers used to think that the Amazons were filthy whores that would poison their youth… needless to say, they hadn't been very welcome.

She caught sight of a man walking from cart to cart, casually taking what he wanted without protest from the townspeople. Curiosity getting the best of her, she jumped down from her perch and approached the man, who promptly turned around and said, "Hey there!" He waved to her.

Eve looked behind her as if to see just whom he was waving at. "You talking to me?"

"Of course I am, do you see any other ghosts here? I want to welcome you, spirit number one million, three thousand forty-seven hundred, ninety-six and three quarters to the undisputed Realm of the Undead."

"What's that?"

"There's the Realm of the Living, the Other Side, otherwise known as the Realm of the Dead, and the Realm of the Undead. This is the place between the lines. But, in simpler terms, you're a ghost," said the man, casually biting into an apple.

Eve shook her head as if trying to shake away some of the confusion. "And _you_ would be?" she asked incredulously, putting her hands on her hips.

"My name is Xanthrax, keeper of the Undead," he replied, holding his hand out.

The other spirit was tall with dirty blonde hair and that 'boy next door' look. He wore a filthy gray tunic with brown trousers and traveling boots. Almost unhealthily skinny, Eve had to ignore the impish little suggestion at the back of her mind to ask him if he _ever _ate. But then again, there was the fact that he was already dead…

"Um… right… But how did you pick that apple up? I can't touch anything," Eve said, shaking his hand timidly. She demonstrated her words by moving her fingers through a piece of wood.

"Mental strength," Xanthrax replied, throwing the half-eaten apple at Eve. It passed right through her shoulder, landing in a batch of oranges, much to the disgust of a nearby solicitor. "Come here," he ordered, moving over to a cart selling charms.

Eve followed him obediently, sensing something to trust about this spirit.

"Look, the thing is that you're _not_ really here. The clothes on your back, they're not there. And, as you can see, you don't really exist. So if you try to physically move an item with something that's not there, it doesn't work. What you must do is imagine the movement, realize that you're not here, and it _will_ happen. Watch." 

He reached over and pushed a charm across the cart with ease. "The catch is that when _I move an item, the mortals don't notice it… but when _you_ undeadlies move an item they have the ability to notice it, even though they usually don't."_

Eve nodded, extending her hand  to the charm. She concentrated on visualizing the movement, then pushed her finger down. It passed right through the stone. The woman sighed in frustration and closed her eyes to further her concentration. She reached out with her eyes still closed, and began moving the charm ever so slightly across the table. The cart keeper gasped and fell to the ground, out cold. A smile graced Eve's features, then her arm went right through the cart. "Oops."

Xanthrax laughed, patting her on the back. She fell to the ground from the force of his hands. "Uh sorry…" He helped her up, still chuckling. "Be careful, when you use this power mortals will be able to touch and feel you as if you were there. Now, I understand you have a certain lucky man to show that trick, but don't wear yourself out."

Eve dusted herself off. "And how would you know—" She turned around, but Xanthrax was mysteriously gone. She shrugged and began to walk back towards Virgil's house.

*****

Xena twirled her sword around on the right side of her body, moving her body quick enough to prevent herself from getting chopped into little pieces. She threw it up from behind her back, catching it in front of her without even looking. Whirling around, the warrior began to fight an invisible opponent.

Eve stopped walking and watched her mother fight.

The warrior delivered and parried blows as if she were really fighting someone, making sure to keep her swings at the normal heights of a man: his heart, his stomach, his face, everything, but at the same time deflecting imaginary swings that, if were real, would slash her exposed spots one by painful one.

Suddenly she stopped and dropped her sword, falling to one knee in pain. She clutched her other knee, trying hard not to make a sound as her face twisted into a grimace.

Memories of how she had acquired that injury flashed through her mind. She had been on a peace mission to try and convince Macedonia to ally with the Amazons. The king had captured her and her troops, claiming that he would much enjoy his own Amazon warrior queen instead of having them allied for nothing. Gabrielle had taken the army and attacked as soon as her spies found out. She got Xena out, but just before making the city walls an arrow had embedded itself into Xena's knee and shattered the bone. It hadn't been the same since, but she refused to acknowledge it and never let Gabrielle see her in pain.

Eve narrowed her eyes in confusion. A weak spot? On her mother?

Xena jumped to her feet as Gabrielle came outside, talking low enough so that Eve couldn't make out her words. The warrior smiled and put her arm around the bard's shoulders, casually walking back to the house. Her gait looked as normal as could be.

But to Eve's skillfully trained eye, she could see the weight her mother was taking off her left knee. She finally realized that she _really_ had been gone for more than just a little while… that the two women walking towards the house weren't the two women she had known. They were… different, somehow. She lowered her blue eyes, knowing that she had to set this wrong right before any more damage came to her family. Both emotional _and physical damage…_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil sighed sadly, scratching his head as he studied his lock of Eve's hair. Had he really heard from her that morning? What if he had? What if he hadn't? These questions and lots more echoed through his mind and haunted him. He looked up as the door suddenly closed, the lock turned, and a weight landed on his chest… but there was no one there. "Holy shi—"

Eve clamped a hand over Virgil's mouth. "Watch your language, Big Guy. Tell me, do you believe I'm here _now_?"

Virgil's eyes flew open in surprise. The hand was removed from his mouth. "Eve? Oh, jeez, how did you do that?"

"Practice." She reached out and caressed his face lovingly.

The man closed his eyes at her feathery-soft touch. Upon opening them, tears spilled down his cheeks. "Eve… I've missed you so much."

Eve smiled, resting her head against his chest. "How could you miss me when I haven't been gone? I don't remember any of what happened while I was… well, dead, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't _always_ with you." She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"If I could see you, this moment might be a little more tearful, but I can live with this," Virgil said with a grin, enjoying the feel of her 'body' against his. "That's kinda creepy."

  
Eve sighed in reply. She then looked up into his face and asked, "How long have I been gone? I noticed that Mother and Gabrielle sure aren't the same. And Callie looks at least a year older and I know—"

"Over two years."

The spirit shut her mouth and thoughtfully bit her lip. "Really?" she asked, hoping for a 'no.'

"Really."

Eve sat up, looking into his dark blue eyes even though he couldn't see hers. "Virgil, I'm going to find out how to put this right. Back in a flash!"

Virgil looked around as he heard the sound of the wind. "See ya, Eve…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve looked around the marketplace for that--that Xanthrax guy. "Xanthrax! Hey, creepy ghost dude, where are ya?" She found him hovering above a cart full of vegetables, yelling at people as they walked by.

"Hey, watch the lady, Buddy. That's right, move along!" taunted the spirit at a man who just 'ran into' a young woman. He looked up and grinned. "Eve! How ya doing, my translucent friend?"

Eve scowled up at him. "How do I go back to the Realm of the Living?" she demanded, pulling him back down to the ground. "You have to tell me how!"

"You don't get back. It's against the rules."

She grabbed his collar and shook him hard. "There has to be a way or Eli wouldn't have sent me to this Realm after two years of being dead as a doornail!"

Xanthrax's eyes widened. "Why didn't you say you'd already been dead? I thought you were a newbie to this dead thing! Now it's a whole different story!" He brushed Eve off his collar and pulled a scroll out of his pocket. "Okay, this'll have complete instructions on what you have to do. Take it and go! Go now!"

Eve shook her head and took the scroll with a grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xena finished wrapping her bad knee and flexed it a few times, inhaling sharply at the pain. She put her foot down then pulled her boots back on so that the bandages were fully covered.

Eve entered the room with a mischievous smile. She opened the scroll and began to read the first part over again out loud.

"'This Guide to Coming Back to Life is brought to you by R.O.U. (Realm of the Undead). If you wish to return to the R.O.L. (Realm of the Living) then you must complete this scroll and all the tasks it gives you. You should and your living partner fail, you are to fill out this form and send it to your head ghost.'" She rolled it back up and chuckled. That was too funny. "'Task one: Scare someone. In order to regain your mortality and keep up the R.O.U.'s reputation, you must scare the pants/skirts off your person of choice."

_Ooh, this is gonna be fun._ Eve moved behind her mother. With a swift arm movement, she pushed the warrior forward and onto the floor.

Xena grunted as she hit the ground. She unsheathed her sword and whirled around, her sword penetrating Eve's 'body.' "All right, who's there?" demanded the warrior menacingly.

The ghost poked her mother in the side playfully.

Xena spun around, lashing out with her sword, but saw no one. "Come out and fight like a man… or woman!"

Eve chuckled again and blew out the candle that had been helping light the room. Then she rattled the shutters. "This is fun," said the spirit to herself.

Xena lowered her sword in surprise. "Gabrielle? Gab, this isn't funny!" called the warrior as if expecting an answer.

The ghost pulled her mother's sword out of her hand and dropped it on the floor, causing a loud clatter.

"Okay, that's it!" boomed Xena, picking up her sword. "Gabrielle! You better stop! And if this is one of your guards I'll have them fed to the dogs!"

The spirit giggled, then picked up a scroll and quill. In shaky handwriting, she wrote out:

'You know, it's not nice to feed Amazons to dogs. I'm sure sharks would enjoy the leather much more.'

Xena stared at the scroll for a few moments, then turned tail and ran away screaming. Eve fell to the ground laughing, tears squeezing from her eyes and her sides feeling as if they would burst.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"'Task two: Make someone happy: After scaring your last person of choice half to death (no pun intended) pick someone else and make them feel as if they're being blessed by a loved one.'" Eve gazed at Gabrielle, who was reading a story to Callie on the couch.

"…the giant had to be at least as tall as fifty grown men, with the strength of a hundred! Xena let him chase her through the graveyard, the kite flailing behind them, then stopped as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, Zeus making his presence known. A lightning bolt shot out of the sky and hit the kite, shocking Garreth and killing him. So Zagreas was defeated and the giant was killed. The end… of that journey at least." Gabrielle smiled down at Callie.

"Did Gammy Xe _really do all that?" asked the girl in pure awe._

"Yep… destroyed my good frying pan and everything," said the bard with a grin. "Now, off to your nap."

"Aww, do I have to?"

"Of course you do. Don't you wanna camp with Gammy Xe outside tonight? She'll keep you awake for hours telling you stories and legends," said the bard, raising an eyebrow. "You don't want to fall asleep during her tales, do you?

Callie smiled at the thought of spending time with her gammy and scuttled off to her room.

As soon as her child was gone, Eve picked up the scroll that Gabrielle had been reading from, waving it in front of the bard's face. Gabrielle's jaw dropped in shock. Eve exchanged the scroll for a piece of charcoal that the bard had been using. She bent down and scribbled the words 'I'm always with you, Gabrielle. Eve.' on the floor.

The bard put her hands over her mouth, unable to do anything else. "Eve? Are you here, Eve?" she asked the silence.

Eve dropped the charcoal, taking Gabrielle's hands in hers. The bard was left speechless.

"I wish I could speak to you… but we'll be able to speak again soon enough. I promise you, whatever this crazy scroll makes me do, I'll do it." She let go of the bard's hands and stood.

"Eve?" said the bard one last time. The spirit placed a flower in Gabrielle's fingers before leaving her to herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"'Task three: The final task: You must take your mortal partner with you to the Cavern of Mars, retrieve the amulet in the main room, and if you get past the five obstacles placed in your way, you will be restored to your mortal body. Good luck and… and send all payments to Xanthrax of Athens?!' What kind of rip-off is this?" Eve groaned as she threw the scroll across the room.

Virgil dodged the flying projectile as he entered. "Eve? Eve, are you in here?"

"Yeah, I'm here. I found how to put myself back into my body, but it seems the last of the three tasks is going to be a challenge."

"Oh? How so?"

"We must go to the Cavern of Mars, get past the five obstacles there, get this amulet, then I'll be able to reunite my soul with my body."

Virgil gave her a confused look. "How come we can't just put you in your body now?"

"Ares has a magic amulet that he once stole from Hades and Persephone called the Amulet of the Secret Realm. He hid it in Rome, miles inside a large cavern, which he named the Cavern of Mars. My best guess is that the amulet has the power to bring someone back to life."

"How did you know all that?"

Eve shrugged. "I dunno."

"And why didn't he use it to bring your mother back to life during that twenty-five year nap?" asked Virgil, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"Um… I dunno, don't ask me! But anyway, that doesn't matter. I need you to tell Mother and Gabrielle about it. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

Virgil smiled, looking around the room for any trace of where she was. "You know, Eve, if I could see you I would have the right of mind to kiss you," drawled the man as he stepped forward, trying to figure out her position in the room.

Eve grinned mischievously as she moved closer to him, but still keeping her distance so he couldn't touch her. "Hmm… funny, 'cause I can see you, but you can't see me. Well, well, well, looks like I have the upper hand here." She closed the space between them. "Do you think _I _have the right of mind to kiss _you_?"

"Kinky."

"Oh, I think it's just good fun," replied Eve, using a tone very similar to her mother's. Standing up on her tiptoes, Eve nipped his top lip playfully. "But before this goes too far, why don't you go explain to Mother and Mom?"

Virgil pouted. "Fine… but can I have a little kiss? Just a little one?" He held his thumb and forefinger out with a little space between them.

Eve shook her head but kissed him. Then kissed him again… and again… and again…

"Eve, Eve, I'm gonna need a cold shower if you don't stop. Stay here and I'll just explain all this to your mom and Gabrielle." He pushed her back, a shiver running up his spine as he pushed basically nothing but felt warm flesh under his palm. "Oh, gods, we gotta get you your body back and fast."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xena angrily crossed her arms, a scowl resting on her face. "My own daughter haunted me. What did I ever do to her?" At the look on everyone's face she quickly added, "Don't you answer that!"

Gabrielle unsuccessfully stifled a chuckle. "Well, she didn't 'haunt' _me, Xena. Do you think it's something of a bloodline feud?"_

The warrior glared at her lover. "Don't even start," she warned, sitting back in her chair. "What I don't get is why you can't send someone else to do it for you. We have plenty of warriors trained for special missions such as these."

"From what I understand, the circumstances are that only Eve and I, being her partner, are the only ones that can complete the journey for it to count. So to send you would be cheating, and you can't cheat on a test," said Virgil, grinning at Xena's discomfort.

"The cosmos hates me, I swear it. No matter what I do, the universe just loves to play its little jokes on _me_!" shouted Xena, throwing her arms into the air.

"And I thought _I was the one who had bad mood swings…" mumbled Gabrielle under her breath._

"I heard that!"

"Um, Eve and I are leaving in the morning," said Virgil, hoping that the two women were still listening to him.

"Are you sure it wasn't _just_ a ghost haunting you?" teased Gabrielle, offering no proof that she had heard what Virgil had said. "Or is your imagination telling you its time to be locked up?!"

"I'm going to go to sleep now. We'll be going early," the man said half-heartedly as he moved towards his bedroom door.

"Well, if she had chosen to scare _you_ then who would be laughing now, Gab? Hah? Hah?"

Virgil slipped inside his room and shook his head. "Family… I'll never understand them. But of course, they'll be leaving soon so--"

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of mental collapse," Eve informed him.

"Is that so?" asked Virgil, pushing himself from the door and moving into the room. "Play fair and come out."

"How about if I do this? For some reason you can't see the current clothes I'm wearing—"

"You're wearing clothes?"

Eve smacked him on the arm.

"Hey, ow!" pouted the man, a wide grin still playing across his face. "Oh come on, it was just a harmless joke."

The spirit scoffed, then picked up a piece of cloth. "But, you can see me when I'm wearing these clothes." She wrapped it around her shoulders, across her stomach, and down her legs like a dress/toga type outfit.

Virgil's eyes popped out of their sockets. "Wow… I guess death doesn't hurt your body _that much, does it?" he teased, studying the curves of her body. The cloth, pulled tightly to her, revealed all the valleys and curves in detail._

"Shut up, Virgil," warned Eve good-naturedly, complete with a devilish grin even though he couldn't see it.

"Hey, I didn't say anything." His head disregarded the fact that he was basically looking at a blanket hovering in mid-air. It was intellectually wrong… or, just plain wrong… but, hey, what the hell?

Eve shook her head. "Alright, we better get some sleep so we can leave early tomorrow." She flopped on the bed. "Mm… feels good. This is a soft bed."

"Probably because after we fixed this place up I didn't do anything but sleep in it."

The spirit thoughtfully fingered the woolen covers. "You really missed me, huh?" she asked in an almost uncertain tone.

"More than words can tell," replied Virgil as he sat on the bed next to her. He reached out and touched what was seemingly air, but felt her shoulder. "This is weird."

Eve chuckled, putting her hand over his. "Yeah, but it'll pass. Right now we _have to sleep or we'll never get outta here tomorrow," said the woman seriously._

Virgil grinned mischievously. "What kind of sleep? Peaceful, energy-restoring sleep or exhausted, sweaty sleep?" he drawled in her ear. He inwardly smacked himself again. This was just kinky.

Eve's jaw dropped and she smacked him again. "Virgil! Will you please stop that?" she begged, feeling the sudden need for a cold shower.

"If you insist." He shrugged and lay down, stretching out his lengthy body teasingly. "But remember, if anything happens it's not my fault."

"Ooh, I hate you," hissed Eve, glaring at him.

"Mm… I love you, too," replied Virgil, closing his eyes.

Suddenly Eve was on top of him, pinning him to the bed with her invisible hands. "Alright, tough guy, you wanna play, let's play." She bit his lip but refused to let him move. "Not so sure of yourself now, are ya?" she whispered in his ear heatedly.

Virgil cringed in an effort to stifle a groan as Eve's hands traveled his body. "Dear gods…" he grunted, closing his eyes as he tried to move his hands but an unseen force held them down as her hands were occupied otherwise.

"Don't struggle… it'll only make the torture worse," warned Eve, licking his chest.

That was it. "Okay, okay, I give!" cried Virgil, opening his eyes. He gasped and knocked her off him. "Oh my god! I'm sorry!" He held out a hand to help her up.

Eve shook the dizziness from her head and accepted his hand. "That's oka—" She stopped and looked at her own hand. "Good gods…"

She held up both hands, in awe that she could see herself again. Her skin was there again… with a nice tan considering she had been dead for over two years.

"Oh, did I mention that any sex would result in haunting the world as a visible and audible ghost, but only to your family? It only happens with those who are to be restored to their bodies because Aphrodite thought it would be weird if you were caught kissing someone who's not actually there so… 'Kay, yeah," said Xanthrax's disembodied voice. "Have fun you two."

Eve looked up at Virgil, who was on the verge of fainting. "Ah… um… I'll just get dressed now," she suggested with a blush as she noted her scantily dressed body.

Virgil hurriedly grabbed her arm. "No, don't. I like you much better this way."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun hit Virgil's eyes, waking him up like it always did every morning of every day. He sighed contentedly, then looked down at the weight on his chest. It hadn't been a dream… Eve was sprawled across his body, her arms hanging down at his sides and her dark locks in his mouth. An _extremely_ satisfied smile rested on her beautiful face while her fingers unconsciously caressed his toned stomach muscles as she slept. Virgil stretched out his sore back.

Upon feeling the man stirring, Eve looked up at him through sleepy blue eyes. "Good morning."

"Funny… couple of years ago I would've freaked if we woke up in this position."

"Um, Virgil, we _did wake up in this position a couple of years ago," reminded Eve with a chuckle. "And you __did freak."_

"Ah… right. I knew that."

Eve disentangled himself from Virgil's long limbs and rolled off the bed. "If only I had known _that side of you sooner," said the woman teasingly. She groaned, working the kinks out of her back._

Virgil blushed. "Well, at least you won't have to live with the hickeys and scratches." He gingerly touched the dark spot on his neck.

Now it was Eve's turn to blush.

Suddenly there was a flash of green light and Xanthrax appeared, a wide grin spread across his skinny face. "Good day to you!"

Eve screamed and jumped back into the covers with Virgil. "You pervert! Will you _please stop interrupting us?"_

"Nothing I ain't seen before," he said simply. "Look, due to a wave of people passing from the Realm of the Living to the Realm of the Dead yesterday, I forgot to inform you that there is a time limit for you to remain here. See, after you learn how to touch and get back your skin, there's no reason to get your body back right? Wrong. You only have one month to live, so to speak, on this world, which should be enough time to get whatever the R.O.U. CEOs tell you to get for them."

Eve grabbed him by the collar and shook him. "You idiot! If I had known that then I would've left yesterday! Numb-skull! Pea-brain!"

Virgil took her by the shoulders and pulled her back down to the bed rather roughly to prevent her from hurting him… if that was possible. "Just go away, you kinky ghost."

Xanthrax laughed heartily. "Never been referred to as that, but call me what you will. I shall go, but remember that you now have until the sun sets thirty days from now, or you'll fade away into the Realm of the Dead once again." He disappeared with another chuckle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve casually walked into the living room, where her mother was currently caught up in the latest edition of the AMAZONIAN TIMES. "Hello mother," she said, stifling a giggle.

"Oh hi, Eve," replied Xena as she turned the page.

"I'm going to get some breakfast, okay?"

"Fine with me, Sweetie."

The spirit had to cover her mouth as she headed into the kitchen.

Gabrielle was cooking eggs at the stove, whistling 'Xena's Theme Song' as she did. The bard then changed her tune to a more upbeat Macedonian song and began bouncing around the kitchen and dining room.

Eve shook her head and chuckled. "Can I have some breakfast for Virgil and me, Gabrielle? I'm really hungry." _Especially after last night... _she mentally kicked herself.__

"Sure, Sweetheart. Help yourself," replied the bard, still whistling as she cleaned some dishes.

"Don't hurt yourself," warned Eve, finding it hard not to laugh.

"I won't. Just go enjoy, dear."

"Alright." The spirit grabbed two plates and left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eve stepped into the room, where Virgil was dressed and waiting. "You are an evil, evil woman," said the man with a wide grin.

"Yeah, but in about two seconds all hell is going to break loose." _Two…one…_

"EVE!" The house positively shook with Xena's yell. She burst into the room and stared straight at her daughter. "How could you do this to me?! Me and Gabrielle?! You made her mad and she's hormonal! Do you know how long it'll take me to get her to calm down?!"

  
Eve fell on the floor laughing.

Gabrielle came barreling into the room with a frying pan. "Where is she? Lemme at 'er, I'll hit her so hard her body'll feel it!"

Eve glanced up at the bard with a sullen look on her face, then began laughing even harder.

Xena grabbed Gabrielle's arm and yanked her back. "Don't hurt her, Gab, she's already dead!" said the warrior, dodging the flailing frying pan. "Alright, explain!" she hissed at her daughter.

"Well… the thing is…" Virgil tried to speak, but found himself blushing and nervously covering one of his hickeys.

"The head Honcho… or, Haunter… whatever, named Xanthrax told me that I have thirty days to remain on this earth. After that, I go back to the Realm of the Dead. So Virgil and I are leaving today to go find the cavern, get the stone, and get back here before the thirty days are up. Understand?"

"No. You didn't explain why we can see and hear you."

"Um… ah… well, Xanthrax said that… _adult relations_ between a spirit and their human… _partner _results in being able to hear and see the spirit again because Aphrodite saw how mortals freaked out when they walked in and caught a guy having… _adult relations when no one else was in the room."_

"'Adult relations', huh? Is that what you call it now?" asked Xena, raising an eyebrow half-teasingly.

Eve blushed, lowing her eyes to her feet. She wiggled her toes, happy to be seeing them.

"Well, you two better be on your way. Don't get in too much trouble. We'll have a big welcome home party when you're back in your body. Come on, Gabrielle," said the warrior, pulling the still-struggling bard from the room.

"I'll knock her head off… I'll—"

"Gabrielle! Give it a rest and come on!"

Eve looked at Virgil and they both began cracking up so hard tears began streaming from their eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"There. We have food, a few waterskins, some clothes-" Virgil had to grin as his mind drifted to the gutter for a moment "-extra blankets for our bedrolls, a compass, some healing herbs, and this—" He held up a nice little item that Eve had insisted they take.

Eve clamped a hand over his mouth. "Don't even say it. Don't you dare say it!" she warned menacingly.

The tall man chuckled and put the item back into the pack. "Oops. My bad." They both looked up as the door creaked open and a small face appeared in the crack.

"Mommy?"

Eve smiled at her daughter. "Callie, oh, Callie, my baby!" She swept the child up into her arms, planting kisses all over the girl's face.

"Mommy! You're back! I knew you'd come back! Now you and me and Virgil can all be a family like in my dream!" exclaimed the child happily.

Eve's smile faded and she looked to Virgil, who quickly said, "Callie, we can't be a family until a little while longer. Your mother and I have to go away for awhile, but when we come back everything will be just like your dream."

"What about a little sister? I dreamed about a little sister but didn't put her in the picture," said the girl in a matter-of-factly tone, turning to Eve.

Virgil snorted back a laugh, which earned him a glare from Eve. "Ah, we'll talk about a little sister later, okay?" She continued to glare at Virgil.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They booked a ride on a passenger ship heading non-stop to Rome. It would take them at least a week due to wars going on between countries that stood between their starting point and their destination. And that was not good. Four days into their journey, they had been set back three days from the estimated week. A passing Mycenaean fast ship had warned them of Chinese pirates up ahead and they had taken a detour to avoid them. That was _definitely_ not good.

A flock of sea gulls flew overhead, calling out to each other in hopes of finding food. The waves were gentle, rocking the boat only slightly. A few dolphins played around and in front of the ship, riding the waves that the ship created. Eve looked up at the cloudless sky, exhaling slowly.

"Dinar for your thoughts?" asked Virgil, coming to stand next to her.

"You know you can't talk to me out here, Virg'. These people can't see me and they'll throw you overboard if you start acting crazy," warned Eve, her eyes never leaving the horizon. "Only family can see me."

Virgil shrugged. "I can swim."

Eve playfully shoved him. "We have twenty-eight days to get into the heart of Rome, past the capital and through the country. You think we'll make it?" She began walking towards the stairs leading below deck and to their room.

  
"Of course I do," said Virgil, following her below deck. "There's no way I'm letting you go after we've gotten this close." He ducked a low-hanging fish net. 

Eve didn't look so sure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Virgil leaned against the side of the ship with Eve beside him. The moon had just risen, hanging low over the horizon. It was reflected by the gentle waves onto the side of the ship, which glowed with the light. The ship creaked and groaned.

"Mmm… what have we here?" purred a high female voice. "Ooh, I like! How about some ale with me and the girls?"

Virgil turned around to find three barely-dressed women staring right back at him. "Um, sorry, ladies, but I'm taken," he said, looking at Eve's fuming face out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't see a weddin' ring, Tough Stuff," drawled the blonde woman, stroking his face.

"Well, you see, at the moment we're just together. Not married, _yet." He gave Eve a sideways smile, which grew wider as Eve motioned to choke the three women._

"There ain't nothing wrong with seeing other people when you ain't married," said the brunette, moving to his left and squeezing his muscles. "What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

Virgil looked at Eve, who had smoke coming out of her ears now.

"Yeah, so why don't you try some of this before you become a married man, Sweet Cheeks," said the redhead, moving to his right side.

Eve was about to smack all three women into the next dynasty when a deep, rough voice interrupted, "What's going on here?!"

All three women turned around, pouts resting on their sickeningly beautiful faces. "He tried to make us have ale with him, Butch!" cried the brunette, moving away from Virgil. The other two followed. "He was being mean!"

Virgil's jaw dropped. "What?! I didn't—"

  
'Butch' grabbed Virgil by the collar and slammed him up against a wall. And Butch wasn't a small man. Standing at least a foot above Virgil, he was grossly overweight with bulging muscles and long dreadlocks of dark brown hair; and combined with the leather jacket, he had the hair on the back of Virgil's neck standing on end.

"Now listen here, Pretty Boy, no one makes _my_ ladies upset, and I mean no one! You're in for a world of pain!" He pulled his fist back, ready to knock Virgil into next Tuesday, when—

WHAM! Butch went flying across the ship as an unknown force hit him across the cheek.

"Ow… that hurt," mumbled Eve, rubbing her hand gingerly. Virgil shot her a mischievous grin, which she returned happily.

Butch shook the dizziness from his head and rubbed his aching jaw in confusion. "Okay, you're asking for it, Pretty Boy!" boomed the large man, charging Virgil.

Virgil made no attempt to move, but right before Butch rammed into him, Eve knocked the large man away.

"YAARRGH!" cried Butch in anger. "You little!" He jumped back up, but before he could charge Virgil again, Eve pushed him over the side of the ship.

"And as for you, ya whores," began Eve, grabbing them by the back of their halter tops. She threw them overboard and clapped her hands together in satisfaction. Virgil laughed and took Eve's hand, leading them below deck. He was glad that had worked out the way it did.

THREE WEEKS LATER 

Eve rolled up her map and looked at the cavern before them. "Well… that looks… welcoming," she said with a sigh.

The entrance to the cavern was mostly stalactites and stalagmites, creating a large, menacing mouth. Not to mention the two holes in the top that looked just like eyes.

"Come on, we can't waste any time. We have until the sun sets to get that amulet. And, knowing our luck, if we start now we'll be done seconds before the sun sets and it'll be a very heroic, emotional ending."

  
Eve chuckled. "You read too much."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was pitch black inside the cave, their only source of light being their torches. Eve went first, using the fact that she was already dead to her advantage. She didn't have to worry about colliding with three-headed monsters… or giants… or walking off a cliff… or running right into a huge bug…

  
She abruptly turned around. "I'm scared."

Virgil laughed and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, nothing's gonna happe—AAEN!!"

The floor collapsed and both Virgil and Eve began to fall into the darkness. It was like a black hole, sucking them into its looming nothingness that seemed to go on forever. They fell down… down…then they stopped and began to float in midair.

Virgil looked to Eve, who was just as confused as he was. "What in the name of Eli?" he thought out loud.

"Don't move," commanded Eve, her eyes following something Virgil couldn't see. "Don't even breathe."

The man froze, his eyes darting around for whatever Eve was looking at.

Suddenly Eve lashed out, her hands wrapping around something long and slimy. "I got it! Virgil, move away now!" she yelled, clamping her other hand on the black snake's neck to prevent it from getting her lover.

Virgil floated away hurriedly.

Eve wrestled with the great serpent for dear afterlife. It twisted its long body around, white fangs glowing with some mysterious light and yellow eyes staring at Eve hungrily. The snake's tail whipped around towards Eve's head, but she retracted any mass at all from her body and the serpent's tail went right through her and hit itself on the head. It screamed in pain and tried to bite her, but all its efforts went right through her.

Soon the serpent had tired itself out and Eve took a dagger from her pocket. "May the souls of all those you've killed haunt you," she whispered to the snake before plunging her dagger into its head, between the eyes. It screamed and dissolved.

The floor slowly came into view and they dropped onto it with two loud 'oof's.

"A giant serpent? Doesn't he know that that is _so_ overused?" mused Eve as they continued through the passage, casually wiping off her blade.

"Overused?! Eve, have you fought a giant serpent before?" asked Virgil, in shock at her bored attitude.

"Sure I have. It was all part of my training," said the woman with an impish little smile.

"I shoulda known…"

Eve simply chuckled and quickened her pace down the hallway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Eve, check out these glyphs," whispered Virgil, waving his torch in front of a wall. "Looks like—"

"It's a complex system of symbols used by the Atlanticans. I learned about it from my language teacher." She took a moment to study the words. "Go left," she instructed Virgil, pointing down a dark hall.

"What makes you so sure?"

Eve sighed and turned to the wall. "'Should you venture right, the wrath of the desert snakes shall consume you alive. Left leads to the Amulet of the Secret Realm.'"

Virgil scratched his head in confusion as he followed the ghost down the left hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's this say?" asked Virgil as they came to another wall of glyphs. Farther down the hall from this wall was a large box with a picture of a spider eating a Roman legionnaire engraved on it. He ran his hand along the intricate design in fascination.

  
"'Forbidden is to release the Spirit of the Spider, for it shall destroy those who awaken it.' Well, doesn't sound too bad," said Eve as she picked up a hammer. "Let's explore! What harm ever came out of exploring?"

"I don't think you should…"

CRACK! Eve slammed her hammer into the spider box, then pulled it back out and stepped away to see what would happen.

"You're insane…" muttered Virgil as he ran over to her.

The ground began to shake, knocking dust from the walls and causing Eve and Virgil to fall over. The spider box cracked and then crumbled, leaving a pile of rubble on the floor. Not to mention the seven-foot tall, eight-feet long, and six-feet wide tarantula standing where the box had been.

"'Doesn't sound too bad' she says. 'Let's explore' she says! How come no one ever listens to me?!" muttered Virgil as they began to slowly back away from the arachnid. "Did I mention that I hate spiders?!"

"I _love_ spiders," replied Eve with a small grin. She leaned forward, supporting her weight on the balls of her feet, and bent her knees. It was her ready stance.

"You know, this arrangement isn't fair! I can die but you can't!"

"Not necessarily."

Virgil counted to ten forwards and backwards. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, controlling his anger as best he could.

"If I know Ares right, he has this cave with some kind of catch for ghosts… like their spirits can be destroyed forever."

"You just know how to make my day, don't you?"

The two humans jumped back as the spider tried to swipe their feet from under them. Eve ran up one wall and Virgil picked up a sword, which had previously belonged to a skeleton. Eve flipped over, landing on the spider's back. "Yaa! Come on, Big Boy, let's see what you got!" she shouted, laughing as the arachnid began to toss and turn. "Wee! This is fun!"

"You have a twisted idea of fun," said Virgil to himself, dodging the spider's eight long legs. He twisted in midair, extending his sword and slashing the beast across three of its legs.

It screamed out in pain, fangs snapping, and began charging after Virgil.

"Whoa!" He turned and ran as fast as he could down the hall. Eve held on tightly, at the same time climbing up toward the arachnid's head. She grabbed a torch from the wall as they passed, grinning evilly as she planned her attack.

"Now would be a good time to help me, Eve!" screamed Virgil impatiently. "Or stop enjoying your piggy-back ride so much!"

"I've got a handle on things!" called the woman back to him. She sat up as far as she could without colliding with the ceiling, and got a good handle on the torch. Studying the huge spider's head, she found what she was looking for. Virgil looked over his shoulder just in time to see Eve thrust her torch into the small fold between the arachnid's head and body. He cringed and closed his eyes as the beast's head abruptly fell off, its body hitting the ground with an echoing thud.

"That's one way to do it," said Eve, hopping down from the disgusting beast. "That should be obstacle number three… or four… three, yeah. Counting that little crossroad. Let's see what Ares has in store for us now, huh?"

"How do people live with you?" asked Virgil as he followed her down the corridor.

"Oh, you'll get used to it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they continued their journey, Virgil was able to take a moment and study the halls of this cavern. It seemed the walls were made of pure sandstone, cracked and aged from the years. The floors and ceiling were made of a harder rock, marble maybe. The swirling white on the black marble created a design similar to the stars in the sky.

Dust covered almost everything around them, giving the air a dry, aged feeling. But there were no little critters crawling around here and there… minus the giant snake and arachnid, but those didn't count. He bumped into Eve, who had stopped and was looking around suspiciously. "What?" he asked curiously.

"Something's wrong. The air's not right," she whispered. "It's coming from in there." The woman pointed to a large room just a few paces away.

"Can't we skip it?"

"Nope. It's the only way to the amulet! The scripts said so!" She began walking towards the room cautiously, her feet dragging across the floor to dull any sounds she made as she advanced.

Virgil sighed in frustration, but followed her warily. He blinked, then ran into her again as she stopped. "What is wrong with you? Just go!" he said, taking a step past her.

"No!" Eve yanked him back just before an ax sliced across the room. It crashed into the wall next to them, sending rocks and dust tumbling down from the impact. "Will you stop that?" she asked as the cloud of dust cleared. "That would've cut you from shoulder to shoulder!"

"Sorry," mouthed Virgil, unable to speak.

Eve dusted herself off then picked up her torch. "Don't move unless I tell you to," she ordered sternly, not wanting a repeat of what had happened a few seconds ago.

"Yes, ma'am," he whimpered.

She began to walk, then turned around as she noticed he wasn't following her. "What're you doing now?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"You didn't tell me to move."

Eve rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the ear. "Walk, numbskull!"

"Ow, Ow!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Farther into the room, Eve stopped. "Stay," she commanded, letting go of Virgil's ear. Picking up a handful of sand, she gently blew it into the air in front of her. It exposed three lines of sunlight running from one side of the room to another. "Don't touch these lines. They're booby-trapped." Virgil nodded.

Eve stepped back, then ran forward and flipped over the sun rays. Turning around, she silently motioned for Virgil to follow.

The man looked around and grabbed a spear leaning against a nearby wall. He slid his sword under the lowest line, to where he could get it from the other side, then moved a few paces back. He ran forward, and pole-vaulted over. Eve rolled her eyes as he landed next to her. "Show off." As they came to the end of the room, the woman halted Virgil with a sharp hand signal. "These walls… they're not safe. There has to be another catch to getting this amulet.

"Do you think there'll be a cave-in after we grab the amulet? Like, grab the amulet and the whole thing falls on your head?"

"And you said _I_ was depressing." She kicked up some sand before moving forward again.

"Wait!" yelled Virgil, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back. "Look at this." He pointed to a few droplets of dry blood seemingly hanging in the air. "I've seen someone do this before. They string some fishing line or wire across a doorway or a hall and when a person comes through here-" he made a slicing motion across his neck "-their throats are slit."

Eve's eyes widened as she pulled on the string, which bounced back with an audible 'twang.' "Thanks, Virg'. You'll be rewarded when we get out of here." She flashed him an evil grin as she went under the wire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At last they came to the room containing the amulet. It sat in the middle of the large area on top of a spinning pedestal. Eve and Virgil slowly walked into the room, eyeing every shadow for signs of a trap.

"Okay, this is too easy," whispered Eve out of the side of her mouth. She approached the amulet, eyes widening in awe. "Oh my gods… that's pure amethyst!" she exclaimed.

Virgil turned to examine the stone. It was a deep purplish blue, shimmering and sparkling even in the dim light. The jewel was encased in a gold alloy, shaped like two tigers holding the jewel between their paws. It was masterfully carved, no doubt by Hephaestus himself.

"Let's just get it and go!" urged the man, throwing away his thoughts on how pretty it was.

"Don't touch it!" commanded a voice.

Eve turned around to find an elderly man standing there, javelin in hand. "We need this to restore my soul to my body!" she protested, forgetting entirely that he couldn't hear her since she was a ghost.

"I know, Child, but I cannot allow you to take it. If you remove the amulet from the cavern then you will be trapped forever!" said the old man, moving forward menacingly. "Save yourselves the trouble and get _away_ from here." He pointed his weapon at them.

"You can hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you! You're in the Realm of the Spirits, child! This cavern exists only in another dimension!"

Virgil squinted hard at the elderly man. "Uncle Autolycus?"

The old man looked to Virgil, a snarl playing across his face. "Who are you?"

"My name's Virgil, remember me?  I'm Joxer's son."

Autolycus lowered his javelin, eyes widened in surprise. "Virgil? What are you doing here, boy?" he asked.

"I'm getting Eve's life back like she said. Autolycus, please, let us try. You should get out of here before we take the amulet," begged Virgil, embracing his longtime 'uncle.'

"Eve… Eve… I know I've heard that name before," said Autolycus, turning to Eve.

"I'm Xena's daughter."

The old man's jaw dropped. "Well, son of Joxer and daughter of Xena, together… who would've guessed. But back to the amulet. I really don't think you should—"

"Auto, please?" asked Virgil softly.

"But—well… I guess you guys can try. Daughter of Xena should be able to achieve things even her mother couldn't. And son o' Joxer can't be _that _dumb, either. But I _ain't_ leaving! I can help you get outta here quicker!" said the old man, throwing down his javelin. "There're shortcuts everywhere."

Eve smiled. "Thank you, Autolycus."

He nodded, blushing slightly, then turned his attention to the amulet. "The trick is to grab it and go as fast as you possibly can. Virgil, you got long legs. You grab it and follow me. I may be an old geezer, but I can move fast!"

Virgil agreed with a nod of his head and ran up to the amulet. Autolycus and Eve stood in the doorway, waiting in anticipation for Virgil to take the stone. Timidly, cautiously, Virgil reached out and took the amulet from its stand.

Instantly, the earth began to shake and rumble. Pillars fell all over the large room, dust and pieces of rock tumbling from the ceiling and walls. Cracks in the ground formed, pushing upward as the earth shifted and causing giant rifts in the surface.

Autolycus ran down the hall of traps, dodging them as needed. Eve and Virgil were hot on his heels, both unconsciously wondering how the old man was moving so fast. They were forced to run in a zigzag pattern to avoid falling debris, which was becoming heavier by the minute.

Suddenly the elderly thief turned, flying down a hidden shaft. His two followers went after him, Eve screaming as they slid down a dark tunnel.  Virgil covered his head to avoid injury as they zoomed down a dark shaft, then was thrown at least twenty feet before he came into contact with the earth again. He shook the dizziness from his head and looked up, eyes widening as he saw Autolycus bent over a huge crack.

"Eve!" called the older man, reaching his hand into a rift in the ground. Eve was hanging onto a ledge by her last two fingers. "Grab my hand! Come on, almost there!"

Eve gulped and tried desperately to grab the ex-thief's hands, but with no avail. She felt a clawing against her legs and looked down, afraid of what she would find. "AAAAAH!" she screamed, kicking at the condemned spirits grabbing her feet. "They're pulling me down!"

Virgil skidded to a stop in front of the rift, falling onto his chest and sliding to the edge. "Eve!" he called, reaching down to her.

A dark spirit jumped up, grabbing Eve by the shoulders, and began to yank her farther into the pit of damned souls. "Virgil!" she screamed back, reaching with all her might towards him.

"It's closing!" shouted Autolycus over the rumbling of the earth, pointing to the opposite wall, which was closing in fast.

"Auto, hold onto my feet and lower me down. I'll get her then pull us back up!" said Virgil, knocking away a piece of rock before it hit his head. The old man nodded and grabbed Virgil's feet.

"I'm coming Eve!" He held his arm out.

Eve was sinking fast. She struggled with the demons, trying with all her might to shake them from her body, but with no success. Turning to Virgil, she reached as far as she could.

Virgil felt their fingers touch, then finally grabbed her hand.

Autolycus pulled them out just as the rift closed back up. "Come on, we gotta get outta here before the whole thing caves in!" he yelled. The old man turned and took off towards the exit.

It was just a dead run now, dodging falling rocks and jumping over opening cracks in the earth's crust. Virgil stumbled and Eve turned to help him, but he waved her on and she continued running. The man pushed himself from the ground and ran after them as fast as he could.

A giant rift was in front of them, and it was opening wider by the second. Autolycus and Eve cleared it with some effort, but by the time Virgil got there it was at least seven feet across. He hesitated, then took a few steps back and ran at the hole. Jumping at the very edge, he flew into the air. His feet waving around as if walking on air, he ducked and rolled as he barely hit the other side.

The three reached the door, and Virgil was knocked to the ground as an explosion sounded right behind him. He covered his head with his hands. Dust poured from the mouth of the cave and onto the three people, coating them with a sandy covering. As the air began to clear, Virgil looked up and saw--

The tip top of the sun setting on the horizon.

"Oh gods, Eve! Eve, where are you?!" called the man, sitting upright.

Eve was lying not too far off, but didn't move as Virgil called for her.

Virgil jumped up and ran over to her, keeping one eye on the setting sun. "Auto, help me get her up," sad the man, pulling Autolycus into a sitting position.

The older man held Eve up as Virgil fished the amulet out of his pocket. "Just put it around her neck, Boy," said Autolycus as he brushed some dust from his mustache. Virgil nodded and slipped the necklace onto Eve's neck just before the sun disappeared behind the horizon.

A bright flash of white light sent Virgil and Autolycus flying back a good ten feet. Virgil bolted back into an upright position as soon as breath returned to his lungs. His heart jumped into this throat as he ran over to his love. "Eve… Eve, answer me," he whispered, gently tapping her on the cheeks.

"Hey… ow, that hurts," mumbled Eve, her words slurred and barely understandable as if she were drunk.

Virgil grinned toothily, hugging her close. "It worked! It worked, Evie!"

"Gentle, gentle," reminded the woman, inhaling sharply at the pain running through her chest and back.

"Sorry," the man whispered, tears of happiness streaming down his face. He noticed the trickle of blood down her forehead. "You're bleeding… oh, gods, you're bleeding!" His smile widened as he wiped the blood away.

"And this is a good thing because…?" said Eve sarcastically. She smiled weakly.

"You better not make this a habit, 'cause I could get used to it, you know," warned Virgil, shrugging off her question. He grinned back.

Eve chuckled a bit, but softly because her lungs hurt with each breath. "Kiss me?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

SOME TIME LATER 

"…so this toast is for two kiddies who have no earthly idea as to what they're getting themselves into-" Xena waited for her audience to stop chuckling "-we wish you good luck, eternal love, and a good life with each other. To Eve and Virgil!"

"To Eve and Virgil!" repeated the gathered people, downing their drinks. An indistinct chatter arose among the crowd as people began their feast.

Xena sat down next to Gabrielle with the help of her ivory cane and kissed the bard on the lips. She had come to terms with the fact that her knee was never going to be the same, and even enjoyed the way people tended to fuss over her when she was unable to perform tasks that required leg muscle. She also said it made her look more regal and respectable as a warrior.

Eve, her arm hooked around Virgil's, smiled as she drank from her cup and Virgil drank from his.

"Tell me again why you're drinking water? I had plans to get you drunk and horny tonight," whispered Virgil through his goblet, their eyes never parting.

"Because you don't need to get me drunk… I'm already horny," drawled Eve, causing Virgil to groan in frustration.

"How long do we have to stay?"

"Long enough to not seem rude."

Virgil sighed as they untangled their arms. "That's too long."

  
"Okay, we'll leave after dinner. I'm _really _hungry," said Eve, kissing him on the cheek. "Besides, we still have our honeymoon, our honeymoon after our honeymoon…"

"And so on and so forth to look forward to, am I right, Love?" finished Virgil heatedly, his excitement growing.

Eve pushed his lips back with her pinky finger. "Just keep your pants on until we get a room, okay?"

Virgil nodded, a pout resting on his lips as his kissed her knuckle.

"I have a surprise for you. Don't give me that face or I won't give it to you," warned Eve with an impish little grin.

"A surprise? What kind of surprise?"

Eve simply ignored him and chewed on some steak. At that point Callie came barreling into the room, her flower-girl dress blowing back behind her as she did. "Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!" said the girl, who had just turned eleven, as she plopped into a seat between them. "Where did Gammy Xe keep her armies?"

Virgil, studied his daughter's face. A smile. A mischievous smile at that. That meant she was about to crack a joke. "Where?"

"Up her sleevies! Get it, arms and sleeves?" She broke into a fit of giggles.

Eve looked to her new husband and chuckled a bit. "When did you think that up?" she asked with a smile.

"When Gammy Xe said that she still had some tricks and two arms up her sleeves. She said it that time she and Grammy Gabby were playing jokes on each other."

Eve chuckled again as she remembered that little scenario. Xena and Gabrielle, still at war over the whole 'she-haunted-you-but-not-me' dispute, had began to play tricks on each other, ranging from Xena switching the pepper and salt to Gabrielle dropping mud bombs on Xena's head. It had ended when Gabrielle locked the bedroom door—restricting Xena to the couch.

It was the ultimate punishment for all those practical jokes.

  
Virgil laughed and kissed his daughter on the head. "Good thinking. Go play with Johnny before he gets bored, okay?"

Eve studied Johnny, who hugged Callie as she came over with eleven-year-old affection. She had a feeling that this was the boy who was going to steal her daughter. A hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality. "Oh, sorry, Baby."

"Dinar for your thoughts?" asked Virgil, nuzzling her neck.

"Just thinking 'bout nothing, really."

"Ah huh… I hope you were thinking about what I'm gonna do to you tonight," drawled the man, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Eve winced as her stomach protested to the pressure, but refused to let him see it.  "You'd just better be ready for what _I am going to do to __you tonight," she whispered._

Virgil groaned once again and pulled back, unable to control his hands. "I'm gonna… gonna go hang with the guys for awhile," he said in a high-pitched, nervous voice.

"Have fun."

The man scampered off before he did something in front of these people he would regret.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Did you tell him?" urged Acacia, Eve's best friend.

"No, of course I didn't tell him! Why ruin a good thing?"

"Because you can't ruin a good moment by adding more happiness to it, Eve! Girl, you really need to work on yo' skills," said the dark woman, sipping her ale.

Eve chuckled in spite of herself. "I just—didn't feel that it was the right time. I'll tell him before the day is over, I promise."

Acacia rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say," she mumbled under her breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You need a cold bucket of water, Virg'?" taunted Acacia's husband and Virgil's best friend, Celin, as the poet downed another mug of port.

Virgil glared at him. "Don't even start. You take a cold shower at least _twice _a day and you know it," retorted the taller man as he took a seat at the table.

"Got me there." He took a long swig from his goblet. "But I know that as soon as five guests are out the door you'll be locked inside a honeymoon suite before anyone knows you're gone."

"Actually, once Eve is done eating we'll be gone and screwing like bunnies!" corrected Virgil with a wide grin. Ooh, did he have plans.

The table of men laughed and hooted things like "Get 'er, Slugger!" and "Hope you can walk straight tomorrow!"

Virgil held up his mug and clinked it with some of the men. "I wish good luck to all the guys who want to find a woman that can use toys as well as Eve."

The men all laughed as they clinked their glasses, most of them saying "Amen to that!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil closed the door behind him, turning to Eve with a mischievous grin on his face. "Well, well, well, isn't this a nice scenario? You, me, locked alone in a room with one large bed and amazingly soundproof walls." He began to nuzzle her neck, arms wrapped around her waist.

Eve leaned into his touch, her body screaming for contact. His lips came down on hers in a probing, searing hot kiss that positively sent fire through their bodies.

"Virg'…" whispered Eve, her conscience taking hold of her.

"Don't speak…"

She pushed him away and gazed into his eyes. "Virgil, what would you say if I asked you what you think a wife is? Someone barefoot and pregnant?"

Virgil thoughtfully scratched his chin. "Well, this is an odd moment to bring this up. Uh… in a teasing sense, just so ya know, I'd say that you can wear shoes."

Eve put her sandals on. "There, I'm a wife."

"What're you talking about, we're marr-" He stopped as the realization hit him. "Did you just…? Do you mean…?"

Eve shrugged innocently, lacing her hands behind her back.

Virgil's eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I think he's coming around," said a husky voice.

"Hey, Virgil, wake up!" piped another all-too familiar one. "You alright?"

Virgil groaned and looked up into two sets of concerned blue eyes. "My head is going to explode," he announced miserably.

A mug was placed to his lips. "Drink this. It'll help with the headache," said Xena, dumping the bitter liquid down his throat.

"That's disgusting," protested the man, pushing the cup away but enjoying the fading of his headache. "What happened?" He slowly pulled himself into an upright position.

Eve kissed his cheek with a smile. "Two words: big surprise," she said, holding up two fingers then placing them to her stomach.

"You mean you're really…?" He fought the urge to faint again.

"Two months."

Virgil did some quick calculations in his head. "But you've only been alive for a month… that's impossible!"

Eve shrugged. "My family has a history of… 'mysterious' conceptions," she said, shooting an impish grin to her mother. Xena scoffed.

Virgil fell back against the pallet in disbelief. "Wow. I… I really don't know what to say."

"That's a first," mumbled Xena.

Eve waved her mother away and the warrior left the room, mumbling things to herself that Eve couldn't quite make out… Looking back at Virgil, Eve's eyes softened. "Are you angry?" she asked quietly, almost afraid of what his answer would be.

"No! No, of course not!" said Virgil, sitting up and pulling her to him. "Just really surprised. This is kind of sudden."

"Do you not want this child? I want it so bad!"

Virgil laughed and kissed her head. "So do I! I'm going to have a child, Eve! This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me besides you and Callie!"

Eve smiled as she leaned into his embrace. "I'm glad… because I want to have so many more."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What'd you do? Hit him?!" asked Xena mockingly as she poked the unconscious Virgil in the side with her toe.

"No! I just told him the facts!"

"Real smart, Evie. Tell a guy who just fainted because he freaked about one kid, then you tell him there's a chance of four or five!"

Eve shrugged. "Never thought of it that way."

Xena chuckled, then pulled an herb out of her pocket. "This oughtta wake him up…" she said, an evil smile spreading across her face.

"Mother, I don't think you should—"

The warrior ignored her daughter and ran the root under Virgil's nose. He immediately woke up coughing from the horrible smell. "Oh gods! What the hell is that?" he asked between coughs.

"It's a root from a tree located near some sulfur springs in Macedonia. Smells like crap, doesn't it?" asked Xena, her grin widening.

"Smells like shi-"

"What did I tell you about that word?" scolded Eve, stopping her husband.

Virgil looked at her and grew dizzy again. "More than one more?"

Eve nodded. "But don't you dare faint," she warned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I did notice you were kinda filling out, but I never said anything about it."

"Why?"

"Well, you women are… how should I put this? _Edgy_ about that subject."

"I have raging hormones, Virgil, you better stop while you're ahead."

Virgil took his wife's advice and shut his mouth. They were lying in front of the fireplace, Virgil stretched out on his stomach with his latest masterpiece, The Aeneid. Eve had her head resting against the small of his back, reading his journal.

"Honey, this entry is… how can I put this? Different," she said, studying a wrinkled page with furrowed brows.

"Which one is it?" replied the man, scratching something out on his scroll.

"It's one you wrote the morning after we woke up in bed together, so to speak."

"We've done that a lot, my dear. I need specific dates," drawled Virgil with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. He put down his quill and scroll.

Eve chuckled as she rubbed her stomach idly. "It's the day I died. You wrote a little something in here about Callie and me."

Virgil craned his neck to look at her. "Read it out loud. Maybe I'll remember."

The woman rolled over next to him. "'Today Eve and I woke up in a position that has me taking cold shower after cold shower. I can't get it out of my head, the scene is haunting me. My heart is beating twice as fast as it should, and skipping beats three by three at that. I fear that I am falling for this wonderful angel with a broken wing.

"'But she couldn't feel the same way about me. I'm sure she has had wonderful lovers, and I could never be as much of a man as Verus or Ares. _They_ were warriors. _I, _on the_ other hand, am a poet. She is a powerful, independent woman who knows her place in this world. I envy her centered personality; she always knows what she's doing and where she's going._

"'Yet, at the same time, I know she's just as lost as a small child. I've seen her stare up at the stars at night. I've heard her midnight confessions in her sleep… I've held her as she suffered through the tormenting nightmares of her past and the people she's killed. I hope that one day she'll find a center of peace that can save her from these horrific images and let her sleep peacefully.

"'And Callie. What a girl. She's as witty and quick as her mother, but with the softened heart of her father, I can tell. These two are already becoming my world, my life. Eve will probably try to send me away, but I can't leave. My emotions are running haywire; my mind is reeling with all these thoughts and dreams. I can barely concentrate on writing.

"'This angel… this angel with a broken wing… is capturing my very soul. There are times when I look at her and no words can describe my emotions. My tongue is rendered useless and a growing fire in my heart flames even higher, for the love I feel is beyond just me. I feel that man cannot truly fathom this love.

"'So, someday, I hope to look at these two and know they love me. For, as far as I can tell, I love them both will all my heart. Eve may not _need_ me… but I'm beginning to need her. Callie may not _need_ a father, but I'm beginning to need her as well. I dare not say I shall one day own the great Messenger, but I will say that one day I hope to look at Callie and say 'That's my Callisto.''"

Virgil averted his eyes as Eve turned to face him. "Virgil, look at me," she said quietly.

He turned to her, the tears in his eyes reflecting the tears in hers.

"I had no idea you felt that way. Virgil, that was beautiful. Gabrielle will be jealous," joked the woman, hugging him. "But you can always look at me and say I'm yours."

Virgil smiled tearfully and kissed her nose, rolling over so that he was halfway on top of her. "You should've heard what was going through my head when you died. I don't think I wrote it down, but it was kinda intense, considering the moment."

Eve chuckled as they kissed.

"Mommy? Daddy?" said a sleepy voice from the door.

The two adults rolled away from each other and looked up to find Callie rubbing her eyes in the doorway. "Hey, baby, what're you doing up so late?" asked Eve, opening her arms as an invitation for the girl to come snuggle with them.

"I couldn't sleep. I've been thinking about the whole 'new babies gig'," said Callie in a matter-of-factly tone. She settled herself between her parents.

Eve laughed and kissed her daughter's forehead as she climbed between her parents. "Oh yeah, and what have you come up with?"

"One sister is all I ask for. If you have five boys and one girl, that's fine with me." She looked up at them through innocent blue eyes.

Her mother laughed heartily. "Five boys, huh? Sounds like you don't have a problem with more than one little brother or sister."

"Nope. Just as long as I get my sister. And I want her to be as cute as Johnny's little sister."

Eve hugged her daughter tightly. "Oh, you're gonna be the death of me, Sweetie."

Callie giggled and settled herself against her mother's stomach. "The healer said I'd be able to feel it moving around. When's that?" Her eyes twinkled curiously.

"It'll be a few months yet, but I think you can still say 'hi'."

The girl smiled as she shifted towards Eve's slightly swollen stomach.

Eve looked up at Virgil, who had silent tears streaming down his face. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Virgil looked down at Callie, then at Eve. "That's my Callisto."

Eve smiled and kissed him lightly. "Virgil, you hoped that one day you would own The Messenger… well, you do. You own my heart… my soul. I hope this love never ends."

The man smiled and hugged his family close, listening to what his daughter was whispering into Eve's midsection.

"…and so, when you come out, I'll show you Mommy and Daddy and Gammy and Grammy and…"

The last thing heard that night was the gentle laughing of a family finally coming together as a whole.

THE END 


End file.
